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February 13th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
The 52-year-old cycling enthusiast must balance the urgency of changing a
force that is deeply resented for its repressive record, with supporting its
fight against mass disorder.
He stresses Bahrain’s advantages. Overall, crime is low, especially compared
with his former patch. “Entire Bahrain has 80,000 crimes a year including a
lot of misdemeanours, think of that compared to London – the Met Police must
have a million alone.”
Confrontation in Bahrain has deep roots in the sectarian grievances of the
Shia Muslim majority against a Sunni elite headed by the king.
Tensions festered for decades fuelled by a security apparatus widely accused
of arbitrary detention, torture and the killing of dozens in custody. At
least 35 people were killed since the protests erupted last year and the
walls of villages are now stencilled with the images of “martyrs” to police
brutality.
At a front-line police station in the village of Sitra, 20 minutes from the
capital, where a stack of petrol bombs seized overnight was on view, Mr
Yates experienced the acrid smell of burning tyres and the sullen mood of a
town overtaken by violence. Lt Cmdr Khalid al-Khathlan, the local police
chief, gave him a sense of the tensions within the “99 per cent Shia” town.
Looking mournfully at the bed in his office, he said: “The Shia people out
there don’t know why they are doing this. They get orders on Twitter to
attack at 4pm and off they go. This a political problem not a police
problem.” That had led to misrepresentation of the situation, Mr Yates said.
“I don’t get a sense of being under siege. Its not a war zone,” he said. “Even
the special forces are in soft berets and jackets. If this was London they’d
be in helmets, flame proof overalls the whole lot. They’d look like
robocops.” While accusations against Bahrain’s public guardians can be
challenged, the impact of a year of confrontation cannot be wished away.
“This isn’t organised protests, its just vandalism, rioting on the streets.”
he told Lt Cmdr Khalid. “Acts of wanton damage that are destroying the
economy.”
In the nearby town of Malikiyah the protesters tell a different story of
deprivation compelling them to rise up. The police deploy in dozens of vans
on Malikiyah’s empty streets every night armed only with tear gas against
residents who respond with petrol bombs and hissed chants against King Hamad.
“It is so very bad here,” said Hassan Barosh, 22. “We protest for jobs, houses
and a better life and the government won’t give these things to us.”
When Mr Yates’s contract is up in April, he hopes to leave behind concrete
reforms that restore some trust in officialdom. He will recommend
overhauling the Criminal Investigation Department, removing the power of
arrest from the intelligence agencies and introducing transparency in the
police and prosecution agencies. It would help the royal government win back
some ground in the battle of perceptions.
“There’s always a fear that hiring a British cop and an American
cop to come up with reform is a bit of window dressing. But everybody from
his majesty downward gets what needs to be done and is committed to doing
it.”
Looming over his time in Bahrain is a forthcoming appearance before the
Leveson Inquiry on media ethics in London. He has spent weeks preparing
responses in a 110-question witness statement. Mr Yates intends to appear
via video link from Manama, Bahrain’s capital. “It’s my job here to help my
employers during this period,” he said. Disappearing back to London for
three or four days would not be form.”
He refuses to discuss his handling of high profile cases during his time at
the Met. He led counter-terrorism efforts, the fight against organised crime
and oversaw a review of the phone tapping inquiry. However when the name of
an aggrieved Labour frontbencher is raised, he makes a face that suggests
something unpleasant.
If Mr Yates has any regret, it centres on not being able to bring out his high
tech racing bicycle, bought for a large sum of money “as my present to
myself after leaving the police force”.
The lack of bicycle, and shorter working hours, leaves time for exploring his
temporary home. “The shopping is great here, lots of malls,” he said. “Its
like Westfield without the people.”
The change in lifestyle suited him, he said. He is able to stroll the souk
with his 14-month-old daughter, Minna. “The only danger is the women, they
come up and run off with your baby. It’s the Bahrain way, so warm and
hospitable, but quite disconcerting at first.”
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