AFP
Prominent Bahraini Shia activist Nabil Rajab issued an appeal yesterday for “serious dialogue” in the kingdom following his release after serving a two-year jail term.
Rajab was arrested in the wake of the crackdown on a month of Shia-led protests in 2011 demanding political reforms, and was jailed for taking part in “unauthorised” demonstrations.
He was freed on Saturday.
“Unfortunately, the situation today is worse than when I went to jail because of an upsurge in violence, which we reject,” Rajab told AFP by telephone.
“The only solution is a serious dialogue between the royal family and the opposition” dominated by the Shia movement Al Wefaq, said Rajab, who heads the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights.
“Attempts at dialogue undertaken in the past were not serious and were rather messages to reassure international public opinion” about the situation in Bahrain, he said.