Sunnis and Shias in Bahrain remain as far apart as ever

THE DEATH in 2020 of Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, the world’s longest-serving prime minister, prompted mourning in Bahrain, but also a ripple of excitement. His nephew, Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, was slated to take his place. Prince Salman, who is first in line to the throne, was seen as a potential bridge between the kingdom’s ruling Sunnis and its oppressed Shia majority. In 2011, when the authorities, backed by Saudi and Emirati forces, crushed Shia protests, he called for a dialogue between the sects. Shia leaders, who have endured prison and torture, hoped Prince Salman would free those in jail, give followers of their faith equal rights and perhaps even pass a law against discrimination.None of that has happened. The main Shia opposition group, al-Wefaq, was banned in 2016 for creating “a new generation that carries the spirit of hatred”—though it would be easy to implicate the government in that crime, too. Al-Wefaq’s leader, Ali Salman, and hundreds of lowlier members remain behind bars. But without some kind of deal with the Shias, the kingdom will flare up again, predict both officials and critics of the government. Some fear a worst-case scenario, in which violence in tiny Bahrain (an island 48km long and 16km wide, with a population of 1.8m) spills over into the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, which is just 20km away, and home to both restive Shias and big oilfields.