WASHINGTON: A group of rights activists and analysts called on US President Barack Obama Monday to press Saudi Arabia to help end the political crisis in its neighbor Bahrain.
The oil-rich Gulf kingdom has "significant influence" in Bahrain wher
e "lasting stability can only be achieved by genuine reform," the group of almost 30 people wrote in a letter to the American leader.
The group -- including experts from some of Washington's most influential think tanks -- urged Obama to "seek to enlist the Saudis in an approach that can end the political crisis and the violence that afflict Bahrain" during his upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia later this month.
"As two of Bahrain's most influential allies, the United States and Saudi Arabia possess a special obligation to pursue stability in the country by promoting reform that meets these demands," the letter said.
"The Bahraini ruling family would be greatly affected by hearing from the king and other Saudi royals that compromise, not repression, is the only path to stability."
In the early days of the Arab Spring, demonstrators in Bahrain from among the Gulf state's Shiite majority sought to institute a constitutional monarchy in the Sunni-ruled Gulf kingdom leading demonstrations that erupted on February 14, 2011.
But Saudi-led Gulf troops were deployed in the country on the eve of a March 2011 crackdown, manning key positions while the tiny kingdom's own security forces dispersed the protesters.
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