MANAMA: Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa called for talks on reform involving all parties in the Gulf Arab state “without preconditions” from July 1, the state news agency said Tuesday.
The offer comes as the government prepares Wednesday to lift a state of emergency imposed in March to restore order and break up a pro-democracy protest movement.
“The king called on everyone to take part … to push forward reform for development in all areas and to firmly anchor the bases of the reform process,” the Bahrain News Agency said.

It quoted the king as saying the talks would be “comprehensive, serious and without preconditions.”
The king praised the National Unity Rally in the speech before a gathering of Bahraini journalists. The rally is a government-backed Sunni group that emerged during the unrest as a counterweight to Shiite opposition groups.
The government had threatened to close down Shiite group Al-Wefaq, the largest opposition party.
“Reform is the project that we have not and will not flinch from, it is the faith and the will between us and the people,” the king said.

“Who does not want more efficient government performance? Who does not want more effective legislative representation? Or political associations and civil society groups that work in the framework of national unity and the rule of law?”
Tanks have begun withdrawing from Manama’s streets ahead of the planned lifting Wednesday of the state of emergency but mistrust remains strong.

Backed by Saudi-led Gulf troops, Bahraini forces in mid-March crushed the Shiite-led pro-democracy demonstrations that had paralyzed central Manama, the capital of Sunni-ruled Bahrain, for a month.
Abdullah Hashim, a leading figure in the Sunni National Unity Assembly group spoke of “high tension” and accused the country’s majority community of raising fears among Sunnis, who enjoy protection under the current rulers. “The call to topple the regime has opened a deep rift in Bahraini society that will take [decades] to heal,” he told AFP, referring to a slogan chanted by Shiite demonstrators during a month of protests.

Nabil Rajab, a Shiite rights and opposition activist, lamented what he described as the government’s success in driving a wedge between the two communities. “Authorities have been successful in separating Sunnis from Shiites, and they have played the Iran card very well,” he said.
Tension between the Gulf Arab monarchies and Shiite-dominated Iran heightened after Tehran repeatedly criticized the crackdown on its Bahraini co-religionists.

But although Shiites and the Al-Khalifa ruling family have had a history of conflict, this year’s crackdown on peaceful mass protests is regarded by many as a step too far. “People are still in a state of shock,” said Rajab, pointing out that Shiite families that have traditionally been known to be apolitical or pro-regime, have also been targeted.
An opposition figure who requested anonymity described the backlash by authorities against Shiites as “bedouin revenge,” adding that the collective punishment inflicted on the majority community, including the detention of women, reflects a nomadic mentality.

He added, however, that those who had decided to resort to brutal force had not thought of an exit policy.
“As this was tribal revenge, they did not think of tomorrow,” he said, adding that the government is already “in trouble” over finding a partner for dialogue in the future. “If no political solution is presented, I think we are heading toward a big crisis,” said Rajab.

The opposition called for the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman, an uncle of King Hamad who has been in office ever since independence from Britain in 1971 and is widely despised by Shiites.
Sheikh Khalifa’s popularity among Sunnis appears to have surged as a result. Large posters of him are hung along main roads and on buildings, while stickers vowing allegiance to him are everywhere.
“Everybody wants reform, but not stupidly,” said Hashim, adding that his Sunni group considers itself an opposition movement although it does not believe Bahrain is ready for a real constitutional monarchy. “We are for a gradual reform process,” he said.

Meanwhile, the economy is still suffering from the fallout from the crackdown. “Political tensions in the country remain high and there seems little prospect of the underlying causes of the unrest being peaceably resolved, at least over the short term. The political outlook is therefore highly uncertain,” Moody’s Investors Service said.