DUBAI (AFP) - (AFP) - The head of the Qatar-based satellite news channel Al-Jazeera English defended a documentary about this year's unrest in Bahrain, in comments published Thursday, after an angry response by Bahraini authorities.
Al Anstey said in an interview with Qatar's Peninsula daily that the documentary, "Shouting in the Dark," did not include comment from Bahraini authorities because [...]

DUBAI (AFP) - (AFP) - An independent commission of inquiry into the unrest in Bahrain said on Tuesday that 137 detainees have been released to await trial in civilian courts, including two former Shiite MPs.
"We are immensely pleased that these detainees have been released ... They can now enjoy the (Muslim) holy month of Ramadan with their families," Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry c [...]

DUBAI (AFP) - (AFP) - Bahrain has ordered the release of two former MPs arrested in May after a crackdown on Shiite-led protests pending their trial in a civilian court, state new agency BNA said on Sunday.
The public prosecutor has decided to "release several detainees ... until the (civilian) court looks into their cases," including "two former MPs and a lawyer," BNA reported.
The two former [...]

DUBAI (AFP) - (AFP) - Bahrain's main Shiite opposition formation slammed the national dialogue's recommendations submitted to King Hamad on Thursday, saying they do not represent its demands or the will of the people.
The conclusions of the dialogue carried "none of our demands" and "the dialogue does not represent the will of the people," the Islamic National Accord Association (Al-Wefaq) said [...]

DUBAI (AFP) - (AFP) - Bahrain's king said he supports proposals for political reform submitted to him on Thursday following a "national dialogue" from which the main Shiite opposition withdrew just two weeks after it began.
The report on the dialogue "reflects the determination (of the participants) to rise above the latest incidents," King Hamad said in a televised speech, referring to a month [...]

DUBAI (AFP) - (AFP) - Bahrain said on Monday it "regrets" the withdrawal of the main Shiite opposition bloc from a national dialogue on reforms in the Gulf kingdom but insisted the talks will go on with other groups.
"We regret the decision, by any participant, to withdraw from Bahrain's dialogue," Issa Abdel Rahman, the spokesman for the dialogue, said in a statement.
"The process [...]

DUBAI (AFP) - (AFP) - Bahrain's main Shiite opposition bloc, Al-Wefaq, said on Sunday it was pulling out of a "national dialogue" with the government on political reform because the talks were not aimed at achieving serious results.
Khalil al-Marzuk, who led the bloc's delegation to the talks, told AFP that Al-Wefaq had decided to pull out and the decision would be confirmed on Mond [...]

DUBAI (AFP) - (AFP) - Tens of thousands of people took part on Friday in a gathering of Bahrain's main Shiite opposition bloc, which is considering withdrawing from a national dialogue, the group said.
The meeting of the Islamic National Accord Association (Al-Wefaq) at Bilad al-Qadim near the capital Manama was attended by "around 50,000 people", the group's Khalil al-Marzuk told A [...]

DUBAI (AFP) - (AFP) - Bahrain's main Shiite opposition formation will shun parts of the national dialogue which the authorities say aims to bring forward reforms in the restive kingdom, a member said on Thursday.
"We will boycott the meetings of the economic and social committees but will continue to attend the meetings of the political and rights committees," Khalil al-Marzooq, a l [...]