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Is Bahrain's Fate Tied to Syrian War?

Bahrain's opposing forces are jostling for power ahead of a possible US strike on Syria, with the government hopeful that a weakened Syrian regime will work in their favor. 
Bahrain's Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa attends the opening of an Arab foreign ministers emergency meeting to discuss the Syrian crisis and the potential military strike on President Bashar al-Assad's regime, at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, September 1, 2013. Saudi Arabia told fellow Arab League states on Sunday that opposing international intervention against the Syrian government would only encourage Damascus to use weapons of mass destruction. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh  (
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To see how things are going in Manama these days, one need only look at the fighting in Damascus. As the possibility that the US and allied forces will conduct a military strike against Syria grows, the deck of cards in Bahrain, the small Gulf archipelago mired in sectarian division, is getting reshuffled.

On Aug. 28, the Bahraini opposition resumed talks with government representatives after a two-month hiatus. But, remarkably, the local media focused on the discussions regarding the Syrian file. The Akhbar al-Khaleej newspaper, which is affiliated with the prime minister, ran a story headlined: “Regional Events Have Strongly Imposed Themselves in the Dialogue Hall.”

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