Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): The heir apparent of Queen Elizabeth II Prince Charles recently visited the Kingdom of Bahrain. This visit came to confirm what is certain, i.e. "Britain stands by the oppressive regime in Bahrain, disregarding all reports declaring a rise in human rights violations."

His visit was nothing more than a PR stunt and part of a broader campaign that the Bahraini regime is backing with millions of dollars for the purpose of whitewashing its public image. Charles was merely a British government tool that was scheduled to visit a Gulf country.

Charles visited the island kingdom, paying no heed to Amnesty International's warning that he "shouldn't be hoodwinked by either the Foreign Office's rose-tinted view of Bahrain or by Manama's own well-resourced PR machine."

"Sadly, UK ministers have recently bent over backwards to paint a picture of Bahrain as a country pushing ahead with ‘reforms' - the much darker truth is that it's a country hounding and locking up its dissidents," added Amnesty.

The Bahraini regime tried its best to conceal the reality of the situation in Bahrain from their "esteemed" guest. The program of his visit was packed with "Hindu shows", meetings with expat communities, museum tours, and horse show events, yet the discussion of main issues that the Bahraini citizens are facing was completely absent from this royal visit.

For to them, it does not matter whether the Bahrainis have a say or decent livelihood in their own country as long as the British have a military base at the Bahraini regime's expense. The base is worth nearly £40 million. Bahrain has paid over £30 million to open the facility, with Britain contributing around £7.5 million only.

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In a show of new British power "east of Suez,"  the British government believes that the Bahrain base, which will house up to 600 military personnel, will help the armed forces send larger warships to the Gulf.

Charles strutted in his military attire alongside his Bahraini counterpart Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa at the base built east of the capital Manama before the latter announced that "Prince Charles' visit is an auspicious moment marking two centuries of respect and cooperation," adding that "the Kingdom of Bahrain is steadfast in its commitment to further strengthening these relations long into the future."

His father the King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa was more frank when he described his country's relations with Britain, as "deep-rooted and solid", believing they are built on "mutual interests" - meaning that ‘Britain will take on the tasks of whitewashing the ruling Al Khalifa family's image and protecting it from recurrent popular uprisings in return for a military base, annual arms deals and neverending trade agreements.'

Prince Charles went to Bahrain to sell the values of human rights and justice in the Bahraini market. He boarded his private jet along with his spouse loaded with astounding gifts taken from the funds of the Bahraini people who will continue to pay the price of such presents and deals.

Arabic Version