Bahrain reform talks begin
MANAMA: Bahrain is eager to get back to business after widespread upheaval over the past five months, when a protest movement was crushed, but the country remains deeply divided.
Facing international calls to engage with opposition groups dominated by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa opened a national dialogue this week with "all options" on the table to discuss political, economic and social reform.
"The Bahrainis are responsive to international opinion.
It's what Arab regimes are good at, embarking on reform and doing the right gesture.
The fundamental power structure doesn't change in any way," said Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Center. "The situation is very tense and there is a divide and it's not going to be healed overnight."
Pro-democracy protests inspired by revolts that toppled Tunisia and Egypt's leaders, erupted in February in Bahrain, a financial hub and modest oil producer and host to the Fifth Fleet, the US Navy's main regional outpost.
COPYRIGHT REUTERS, 2011
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