Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, appeared on Press TV News Analysis on December 16, 2011 to address the role of Saudi Arabia in the Middle East and its relationship to United States foreign policy. Unrest has swept the Persian Gulf., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
'Saudi Arabia resists democracy in PG'
Press TV interview with Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan African Wire, from Detroit, Michigan.
Sat Dec 17, 2011 8:41AM
To watch this interview with Abayomi Azikiwe just log on to the website below:
http://presstv.com/detail/216157.html
Saudi Arabia has recently played an active role in the crackdown of the (democratic) movements in the region, despite facing unrest itself.
The Kingdom is believed to be assisting the regional despots such as the Bahraini king and Yemen's Saleh to prevent similar movements in favor of democracy back at home.
Experts believe Saudi Arabia is interfering in other nations' internal affairs by sending troops to these sovereign countries to maintain the repressive regimes and to prevent regime change. Some even say it is acting as a counter-revolutionary power.
Press TV talks with Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan African Wire, about Saudi Arabia's role in the crackdown of the democratic movements throughout the region.
Press TV: Mr. Abayomi Azikiwe I like to start with you, let's go back a little bit. Early on in the Arab spring, Saudi Arabia was accused of a counter-revolution. Why were they accused of that?
Abayomi Azikiwe: Well, first of all, they have supported some of the most repressive regimes, not only in the Persian Gulf, but also in the other areas of the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa.
They were very close allies with Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. Also they have sent troops into Yemen as well as Bahrain. Now in Egypt, the government under Hosni Mubarak did collapse. There have been parliamentary elections and a new political dispensation is coming into play in Egypt.
But in Yemen the revolution has been frustrated and it has a lot to do with the involvement of both Saudi Arabia as well as the United States. Saudi Arabia of course acting in many ways, on behalf of US foreign policy, in the Middle East.
Also in Bahrain, where many people were killed and many atrocities have been committed, there have been allegations of destruction of religious institutions in that country.
So they (Saudi Arabia) have to a large degree played a counter-revolutionary role in the region.If you compare Saudi Arabia with other countries in the region, for example, the Islamic Republic of Iran, where there is a parliament, there are elections periodically, there are presidential elections as well, there is very vigorous debate, as far as we know, within the Iranian political system, when we compare that to Saudi Arabia, where there is a monarchy and there is essentially no debate, where women are totally suppressed in regard to just basic democratic rights.
How can the United States' State Department justify supporting Saudi Arabia and at the same time engage in all types of provocative actions against the Islamic Republic of Iran?
So those contradictions are very much a part of the US foreign policy towards the Middle East.
Press TV: Well let's talk about one of the Persian Gulf islands, that obviously, the US has been backing the monarchy of, and that is Bahrain, connected by a bridge to Saudi Arabia.
Mr. Azikiwe, this question to you. Riyadh has made Bahrain the first great battlefield of the counter-revolution. Their forces are still there, they are still silencing the protest so much so in the past 24 to 48 hours, a number of instances have happened, in that continuing line of instances.
Why is Bahrain so important for Saudi Arabia, and not so much in terms of importance, but to be at the top of the list to send its troops into the island?
Abayomi Azikiwe: Well first of all the US has military interest there, in Bahrain. Also they, as the other guests have said, do not want any type of revolutionary movement to come to power in any of the states through the entire Persian Gulf.
This is why they are pursuing the policy of total suppression of the democratic movements, in Bahrain, as well as in Yemen.
And I think it is very important that people recognize this because the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia goes back at least to 1933 during the Roosevelt administration. It is based on the supply of Saudi oil to the United States. They have huge reserves of oil there. It is estimated perhaps 25 percent of the known world reserves of oil. The United States of course is heavily dependent upon the oil industry to shore up its economic system.
It has been like that now for several decades.
Press TV: I would like really to find out because it is very interesting to me, sorry for interrupting, their (US) Fifth Fleet there, so the US soldiers are there, and then you have the monarchy, Saudi backed forces, suppressing the Bahraini people. How does that work?
Abayomi Azikiwe: Well they (US) give them the go ahead, obviously. We do not hear hardly any information on Bahrain in the mainstream media in relationship to the violations of the human rights that are taking place in Bahrain.
And we feel very strongly that this is clearly connected with the fact that you do have the US Fifth Fleet that is based there and it is serving as a regional police force to make sure that the political situation throughout the Persian Gulf and in other countries in the Arabian peninsula does not get out of hand.
That is why we have such a strong and consistent suppression of the democratic movement in Yemen and Bahrain.
Press TV: Ok, let me bring in Mr. Azikiwe again. I am sorry to jump in there, because we are almost out of time.
Mr. Azikiwe that means that Saudi Arabia as a monarchy obviously does not want their political order to be changed. So they are backing these monarchies but how is that going to backfire on them given what is happening on the ground. Does that mean that they are actually now threatened with the political order being changed back at home?
Abayomi Azikiwe: Yes, I believe so. We have seen unrest inside Saudi Arabia as well in the recent period. I think it is very important that the Iranian government and the Saudi government have held talks recently in an attempt to deflect the attempts by the United States administration to escalate tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and I think that is a very important development that has occurred recently.
But yes, they want to prevent any real democratic change through the entire Persian Gulf region.
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