Irresponsible actions by individual citizens, who think they can take the law into their own hands, only harm Bahrain’s reputation as a free and open country, the Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa said. "The society must shoulder its collective responsibility to safeguard Bahrain’s development achievements by confronting those whose irresponsible actions harm the kingdom’s reputation," Sheikh Khalifa was quoted yesterday as saying during his weekly meeting with senior officials, MPs and citizens. His statement comes in reaction to Thursday night clashes between residents of an old Manama neighborhood and suspected illegal alcohol dealers.
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Bahraini newspapers continued yesterday to criticise the residents’ actions and call upon authorities to uphold individual freedoms.
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Those behind Thursday’s incident aim to "abolish the state," said Al Ayam’s leading columnist Sawsan Al Shaer. "We should not keep silent because soon we will all find ourselves living in a lawless state," she wrote.
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The editor of Akhbar Al Khaleej, Abdul Munim Ibrahim, stressed that those who attacked their neighbours represented "only a small minority who still live in the past." However, the English language Bahrain Tribune said the "understandable rage" over the Thursday’s clashes should not overwhelm other questions. "How did the people running these unlicensed bars get hold of such large quantity of liquor to run their business?" the newspaper asked. "They must have bought it wholesale. So what were the liquor companies doing selling such huge quantities of liquor to unlicensed (dealers)? Are they going to be questioned and fined?" it added. |