Bahrain leading opposition society Al Wefaq has suspended its participation in the Kingdom's "national dialogue" after a wave of raids and detentions by security forces.
The Dialogue began in February, with the involvement of pro-regime and opposition groups, as well as Government ministers and MPs, in an attempt to resolve the issues of reform and justice highlighted by mass protests from February 2011.
However, other opposition factions have denounced the Dialogue as little more than a token gesture, and the discussions have made little progress.
Minister of Justice Ahmed Mekki has offered his resignation, a day after President Morsi had stated there would be a government reshuffle and two days after thousands of Islamist demonstrators calling for the "purging of the judiciary"
According to judicial sources, Mekki complained about the demonstrations in his resignation statement. He also condemned attempts, led by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party to amend the judicial authority law to decrease the retirement age of judges without taking their view on the issue.
The amendment would mean the forced retirement of more than 3,000 judges.
The retrial of former President Hosni Mubarak, on charges of complicity in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising that toppled him, will be held on 11 May.
The retrial was postponed last Saturday when the presiding judge suddenly stepped down.
Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison last June, but the verdict was suspended on appeal because of procedural irregularities.
Former Minister of Interior Habib El-Adly and six of his aides will also be tried again.
On the same day, the court will also hear a case against Mubarak, his sons Alaa and Gamal, and business tycoon Hussein Salem on corruption charges.
1605 GMT:Iraq. Two more Sunni Muslim election candidates have been killed less than a week before local votes.
At least 13 candidates, most of them Sunni, have been slain.
Saturday's election to select provincial council members is seen as a measure pf strength of the largely-Shia national government before the Parliamentary elections in 2014.
No group claimed responsibility for the weekend attacks in Baiji town, 180 kilometres (112 miles) north of Baghdad.
Another Sunni candidate escaped a roadside bomb in Balad Ruz, 90 km (55 miles) northeast of the capital, on Sunday.
Opposition society Al Wefaq said that at least 35 protesters had been hurt, three of them critically.
The Ministry of Interior claimed "domestic terrorists" had blocked roads and burnt cars. It said two police officers were injured.
Witnesses reported heavy clashes as police used tear gas and stun grenades against youths who, according to the Ministry of Interior, carried "Molotov cocktails, iron rods, and a number of homemade bombs."
In March 2011, the other members of the Gulf Co-operation Council sent in troops to back up Bahrain's security forces, who overran the camps of protesters, including the main one at the iconic Pearl Roundabout.
1918 GMT:Bahrain. The Information Affairs' Authority --- deliberately or unwittingly --- has built on a pro-regime disinformation campaign --- to warn about "direct threats" by an opposition which it calls "terrorist gangs and saboteurs".
Opposition groups, including Al Wefaq, have called for Bahrainis to refrain from shopping, banking, and fuelling their cars. Pro-regime activists have used that to put out fake flyers, in the name of the opposition, threatening people if they do not join the boycott.
1918 GMT:Bahrain. The Information Affairs' Authority --- deliberately or unwittingly --- has built on a pro-regime disinformation campaign to warn about "direct threats" by an opposition which it calls "terrorist gangs and saboteurs".
Opposition groups, including Al Wefaq, have called for Bahrainis to refrain from shopping, banking, and fuelling their cars. Pro-regime activists have used that to put out fake flyers, in the name of the opposition, threatening people if they do not join the boycott.
Now the IAA has put out the statement:
Some internet webpages and social media accounts in Bahrain circulated news about direct threats being sent by terrorist gangs and saboteurs to various individuals, groups, families, workers, shops and companies intended to compel citizens and residents to stay at home and refrain from going to work or business as usual on Thursday February, 14, 2013 in a desperate bid to forcibly impose a de facto public strike in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
"I appreciate how hard they have pushed for reform," she said in a café, in between homework assignments. "But sometimes Al Wefaq drives me crazy."
Jamana is not alone in her growing disgruntlement with the Shiite bloc and its allies.
Since long-running protests against the government intensified last year on the heels of upheavals in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere in the Arab world, the Al Wefaq-led opposition has taken pains to reiterate its support for the monarchy even as they call for political reform. Their peaceful, licensed marches have been supported by tens of thousands of Bahrainis. Two weeks ago, the head of Al Wefaq asked supporters not to chant anti-regime slogans.
As the kingdom's political stalemate has ground on, however, mounting frustration among once-moderate critics and opponents of the government has translated into growing support for groups whose goals and tactics are more extreme.
The "difference" in Abdulla's case is a US citizen. This is not to say that Abdulla warrants more attention because he has a US passport, but his case illustrates Washington's reluctance to engage with the specific, day-to-day, realities for others in Bahrain. Opting for quiet, behind-the-scenes diplomacy, the US is seen by many as fundamentally complicit in the path of repression --- not reform --- which the regime has pursued throughout 2012.
Crown Prince Salman's speech at the Manama Dialogue last Friday
How fitting it would be if Bahrain's uprising were finally resolved in the same manner in which it originally was not resolved --- with a political deal brokered by the Crown Prince --- an appropriately absurd result to highlight even more starkly how far the turmoil, bloodshed, and political posturing of the previous two years accomplished *literally* nothing.
Claimed footage from Bahrain State TV of Thursday night's explosion --- circled in red about two minutes into the video --- which killed one policeman and injured another
It has been another tense day in the Kingdom.
Al-Eker village has been under a state of near-siege since late Thursday night after a policeman died there. Throughout Friday, there were reports of house raids, arrests and violence by security forces --- including shooting into properties --- while human rights defenders were prevented from entering Al-Eker by police. Today, citizens are reportedly still being prevented from entering or leaving the village.
Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 8:03 | 
Bahrain leading opposition society Al Wefaq has suspended its participation in the Kingdom's "national dialogue" after a wave of raids and detentions by security forces.
