MANAMA: Bahrain’s opposition Wednesday cast doubt on the success of a national dialogue for reforms in the Gulf kingdom as Bahrain sentenced one of its citizens and two foreigners to 10 years in prison for spying for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Akhbar al-Khaleej newspaper reported Wednesday.
The country’s Sunni rulers crushed Shiite-led protests in March. After a four-month crackdown, Bahrain hopes to lay the groundwork to heal the rifts.

But opposition groups said the first working session of the dialogue Tuesday night left them concerned that their main demand – a representative, directly elected government – would never reach a consensus.
“To reach a complete solution to the big problems, you have five minutes to speak? What is that?” asked Sayed al-Mousawi of the main Shiite opposition group Wefaq. “Is this dialogue?”
The organizers have said sessions will continue over a two-week period and then convene again if consensus is not reached.

Bahrain faced international pressure to begin reconciliation after the fierce crackdown in which hundreds of mostly Shiites were arrested in the tiny Gulf island state, a financial hub and host to the Fifth Fleet, the U.S. Navy’s main regional outpost.

The dialogue has been widely praised by foreign governments as an opportunity for reform and reconciliation. But opposition groups mocked a system where participants were handed numbered placards and called upon to give their five-minute speech.
In all, there are 300 participants in the dialogue and just 35 of them are from the opposition. Other representatives are from more pro-government political parties, as well as rights groups, companies and even educational organizations like the Bahrain Astronomical Society.

Some participants at the Tuesday session said tensions were still high among a population embroiled in unrest.
The government previously accused the Shiite-led protesters of a sectarian agenda backed by Shiite power Iran, just across Gulf waters. The opposition insists its aims are only democratic reform but most Sunni groups loyal to the state say they remain suspicious that the opposition has loyalties to Iran.
Munira Fakhro of the leftist group Waad, Bahrain’s second largest opposition party, said sectarianism had taken over the two most critical sessions, on legal and political reforms.

“In the legal session, there was a big dispute between them over Shiite and Sunni views on the laws,” she said. “The political session had rising tensions, and they still have not raised the very difficult issues. They should.”
Meanwhile, many citizens in Shiite villages around the capital Manama are very angry that the opposition has agreed to dialogue while hundreds of people are still in jail and dozens face military trial.

Bahrain sentenced one of its citizens and two foreigners to 10 years in prison for spying for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Akhbar al-Khaleej newspaper reported Wednesday.
The Bahraini was recruited while visiting relatives in Kuwait, it said, adding the Iranians had also spied on the Kuwaiti military, U.S. forces in Kuwait, and oil installations in the emirate.