Friday, October 14, 2011

Spies of Arab embassies: when the US acts

Angry Arab chief Bahrain correspondent wrote me this:  "I'm glad you posted something about the Syrian spy. The entire thing is making me so angry. Why? Because Bahrain has been spying on Bahrainis abroad in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia and no one seems to care. The families of Bahrainis living abroad have gotten threatening phone calls from the ministry of interior concerning the activities of the children/siblings/relatives abroad. The Bahraini embassies abroad are definitely doing the spying - they know minute details of what people are saying and doing, where they are going... They know that so and so protested on this day, that so and so attended a talk against the government, made a comment against the government in a lecture. These tiny things that people do can endanger their families back home and many family members have gotten arrested for that very reason. On top of this you have the ridiculous number of Bahraini students abroad who have lost their scholarships because of something they said or did. The scary thing about this all is that Bahrainis abroad cannot trust anyone. The people spying on them may be fellow students from Bahrain or neighboring Gulf countries or just random people that the embassy sends to Bahrain related events. Students who have returned back to Bahrain have been interrogated and many have been arrested. Is the DOJ going to bring charges against these spies?? My guess is definitely not."