MANAMA, 3 July 2005 — Close to a thousand Bahraini Shiites took to the streets Friday afternoon to protest the publication of a caricature in Al Ayam newspaper that appeared on June 27 depicting Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “manipulating” the results of the recent Iranian elections.
The cartoon showed Khamenei on a graph of the results of the recent presidential election, which was won by the populist Tehran Mayor Ahmadinejad.
It showed Khamenei’s long beard growing on the graph in an upward zigzag, apparently referring to his decisive role in Ahmadinejad’s victory.
This was the second protest to take place in less than a week after hundreds filled the streets on June 28 in front of the newspaper offices in Juffair in the suburbs of the capital Manama carrying pictures of Khamenei demanding that King Hamad intervene to halt what they described as attempts to fuel sectarianism in the community and called on the minister of information to investigate and take actions against the daily publication.
Friday’s protest was larger with the protesters lining up in front of the newspaper offices shouting allegiance to Khamenei and chanting in Arabic “Labbek Khamenei” which means we will answer your call, Khamenei. A large number of the Bahraini-Persian community that lives on the Gulf island also took part in the protest that called once more on the newspaper to issue an apology and on the government to prosecute the newspaper officials for what they described as an attack on the sect and faith.
The protest, which turned into a march along a section of the busy Al Fateh Highway just a few hundred meters away from the newspaper offices, ended peacefully an hour after it began.
The Shiite High Islamic Council, which was one of a number of Islamic scholar bodies in Bahrain that condemned the publication of the cartoon, called for three-month long boycott of the newspaper.
The newspaper editor in chief, Isa Al Shaiji, had filed a complaint at the public prosecutor against one of the Shiite Islamic leaders leading the protest organization, Sayed Aqeel Al Musawi, accusing him of threatening his safety after Al Shaijii received a letter following June 28 protest from Al Musawi accusing him of being a traitor and that “punishment” awaits him and “his likes”.
Al Musawi, who was released on a BD100 bail ($265) and took part in Friday’s protest, had met with Al-Shaiji to demand that an apology be published, which Al Shaiji promised to present the request to the newspaper board for consideration after he emphasized that the newspaper had no internal motives to disrespect any body or sect.
Religious figures taking part in Friday’s protest said that offending the stature of Khamenei was an insult to the whole Shiite community and that they considered it a “red line” not to be crossed pointing out that the support expressed for Khamenei does not contradict with the patriotism of the participants, pointing out that Khamenei was a religious figure for Shiites around the world.
The publishing of caricature had also prompted the Iranian Embassy here to complain to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In a statement issued on June 28, the embassy said that the cartoon publication had harmed the good bilateral relations and insulted the feelings of Muslims.
The statement added that the embassy officials were following up the matter through diplomatic channels with the Bahraini authorities to demand an apology. Diplomatic sources said that the Iranian Embassy here had contacted the Iranian Foreign Ministry to inform them of the situation.
Iranian press had also responded angrily to the cartoon with the pro-regime Tehran Times carrying an article yesterday describing the publication of the cartoon as an “indication of the creeping Zionist influence on Bahraini press” speculating that the Zionists wanted to foment unrest in the small island that has a Shiite majority.
Officials from the newspaper defended their right to free speech insisting that the caricature was misunderstood and only tried to point out the increasing influence of conservatives in Iran and the impact it had on the elections. The newspaper position had been backed by a number of Parliament members and civil societies.
Bahrain has four daily Arabic newspapers and two English newspapers, with an additional two Arabic newspapers expected to enter the market in the near future. Al Ayam is one of two semi-official daily Arabic newspapers.
