Background
Bahrain is the smallest and poorest Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) state, although its prestige is enhanced by its role as home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet and as the GCC's regional banking and commercial hub. Its Shia-majority population has chafed under the rule of the Sunni al-Khalifa family, which it blames for its political exclusion and second-class economic conditions, including an unemployment rate as high as 30 percent.
Bahrain has a long history of political unrest - especially since 1975, when Sheikh Hamad's father, Sheikh Issa, dissolved Bahrain's elected assembly, accusing its members of refusing to cooperate with the government, and issued a much-resented security law. The Bahraini authorities' response to opposition demands for restoration of the assembly, and to other socio-political unrest, has largely been repression and exile of the movement's leaders, particularly during the stormy period from 1994 to 1998.
Like the rest of the new generation of Arab leaders, Sheikh Hamad has cloaked himself in the language of reform since assuming power after his father's death in March 1999. The new emir sought to calm Bahrain's internal situation, to revive its international image, and - perhaps most importantly - to establish his authority vis-a-vis his powerful uncle, the prime minister, an anti-reform hardliner who had favored his own son for the throne. During the past two years, Sheikh Hamad has released hundreds of political prisoners, and this week ended the house arrest of Shia opposition leader Sheikh Abdul Amir al-Jamri. In national speeches, the emir has often spoken of his intention to restart political life and to hold local elections, the first since British rule. In September 2000, he made history in the Gulf by appointing four women, a Christian, and a Jew to the advisory Shura council created by his father in 1992. These gestures have somewhat lessened public tension. Another spur to reform has no doubt been the intense and centuries-old rivalry with Qatar, whose emir scored a major public relations coup with the West when he decreed a local council election, held in March 1999, in which women could vote. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is due to rule soon on the disputed Hawar Islands, claimed by both countries but currently part of Bahraini territory. The emir probably hopes to boost Bahrain's image and score domestic political points in the likely event that the ruling goes against his country.
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Ever heard of Morocco's Jewish eminence grise, Mr André Azoulay?? Here you're:
Andre Azoulay, a counselor to Hassan for a decade and to Mohammed since Hassan's death, sought to dispel the impression that the new king represents anything but continuity.
"He is not a clone of his father, but there is no rupture," Azoulay said. "His Majesty has, simply put, his own style, his own values, his own vision to accelerate what his father put in place."
Even so, politicians, journalists, human rights activists and diplomats have been struck by the young king's willingness to break with all kinds of traditions.
Mohammed, who is unmarried, has yet to move from the villa in suburban Rabat, the capital, where he lived as crown prince. When he is not aboard his motor scooter or his Jet Ski, he likes to take the wheel of his own car. His motorcade even stops at traffic lights. Reportedly appalled by the size of the palace staff, he has begun cutting.
In a triumphant early tour of the Rif, a northern area known for its rebelliousness that his father never visited, Mohammed waded into crowds in the rain to shake hands with thousands of cheering subjects.
"No political leader in Morocco could bring out crowds the way he did," said Ali Belhaj, president of a human rights association here. He conceded that this is a double-edged sword for the future of democratic institutions in Morocco.
As crown prince, with a French education and an internship at the European Union, Mohammed was rumored to favor evolution toward a British- or Spanish-style constitutional monarchy, with true power vested in elected government and the king a remote arbiter of national will and a handy overseas emissary. But the zest with which Mohammed has taken up the scepter, and replaced Basri with an inner circle of people his own age, makes many wonder if he is prepared to go that far--and if Morocco is ready.
Asked about this, Azoulay said Morocco, a kingdom for 14 centuries, needs no imported models. He also stressed Morocco's political stability. The Islamic fundamentalist political forces that have split other countries are relatively weak here.
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