Ambassador Shaikh Abdul-Aziz of Bahrain

unfortunately we saw the first fatality. Then we had another fatality on the second day and then things just escalated. So they decided to take further action by protesting, and our leadership felt that the best way to solve the grievances was to have a national dialogue because the grievances that the Shias are talking about, not only affects them, but also the Sunnis.

The Sunnis stood up and said, “We have demands as well, so you cannot sideline us and you have to include us in any talks you might have with protestors.” So the Crown Prince proposed a dialogue and he was asking for the dialogue for nearly a month. We did not have any kind of reciprocation from the protestors.

HSNW: To take a step back, as the protests have continued more radical and fringe elements may have been drawn in, but what are the more legitimate and substantive demands that protestors are asking for?

AA: What they were asking for was revealed by the Crown Prince on state television after a month of negotiations behind closed doors. They [the protesters] were complaining about unfair voting districts, so we said that would be rectified. We talked about a more inclusive Parliament with greater powers. We talked about a government representing the will of the people, so that the Parliamentarians would have some say in the government itself, either in the formation or some other form where they would actually be represented. We talked about naturalization, which means any Bahraini citizen who had recently become Bahraini would have a process for the future of how you could give citizenship. We talked about corruption and we talked about land reform. In total, we talked about seven main principles that, I think, would have taken the country forward another fifty years at least with no more political problems.

HSNW: What is the current state of the Crown Prince’s offer for negotiation? Has there been any progress or word from the opposition leaders?

AA: We saw that the protests were no longer peaceful and they turned violent. They took over a district where the stock exchange is housed. To give you perspective, they barricaded the equivalent of our Wall Street. They camped out around that area and they prevented people from going in with the intention of bringing the economy to a halt until their demands were met. They went on a rampage vandalizing private properties.

After nearly