Bahraini opposition party: No progress in talks with al-Khalifa regime

A senior member of Bahrain's al-Wefaq National Islamic Society expressed pessimism about continuation of talks with the al-Khalifa regime, saying that previous negotiations with Manama didn't show any positive progress."Since the onset of the talks between the Bahraini government and the opposition, no positive progress has been made in the process of the talks," Head of al-Wefaq's Consultative Council Jamil Kazzem told FNA on Wednesday."The al-Khalifa regime doesn't accept to sit to the negotiations table, and at present those who are attending the negotiations are not representatives of the government," he added.Kazzem said that the Bahraini regime has not yet presented an explicit political plan and has been just a passive listener during the previous rounds of the negotiations with the opposition.Anti-government protesters have been holding peaceful demonstrations across Bahrain since mid-February 2011, calling for an end to the al-Khalifa dynasty's over-40-year rule.Violence against the defenseless people escalated after a Saudi-led conglomerate of police, security and military forces from the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) member states - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar - were dispatched to the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom on March 13, 2011, to help Manama crack down on peaceful protestors.So far, tens of people have been killed, hundreds have gone missing and thousands of others have been injured.The protesters say they will continue holding anti-regime demonstrations until their demand for the establishment of a democratically elected government is met.