WASHINGTON (IPS) — Reports that the Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC) is considering some form of membership for two non-Gulf states – Jordan
and Morocco – confirm that the conservative Sunni monarchies of the Middle East
are closing ranks against Iran, Iraq and the democratic wave sweeping the
region.

GCC Secretary General Abdullatif al-Zayani made the
announcement Tuesday after a summit of the six-member group affirmed support
for Saudi and United Arab Emirates military intervention against predominantly
Shi’a pro-democracy protesters in Bahrain.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II (R) meets with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal at the Royal Palace in Amman May 11, 2011. REUTERS

Zayani did not make clear whether Morocco and Jordan would
be offered a second-tier membership in the GCC, which groups Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait, Oman, the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain.

Foreign ministers from Jordan and Morocco will meet with GCC
foreign ministers to “complete required procedures,”  Zayani told reporters.

Founded in 1981 in the aftermath of Iran’s 1979 revolution
and in the midst of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, the GCC encourages economic and
especially military cooperation among its members, which all border the Persian
Gulf. In territorial terms, it would make more sense to offer membership to
Iraq or Yemen than to Jordan or faraway Morocco.

However, the wave of popular unrest that has swept the
region since January – and toppled once durable pro-Western authoritarian non-
monarchies in Tunisia and Egypt – has spread anxiety among conservative Sunni
monarchies already unsettled by the Shi’a replacement of a Sunni regime in Iraq
and by Iran’s slow but steady nuclear advancement.

Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the
Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said it was clear
that GCC members regard “the success of monarchies in the Middle East as
important for regional security and their own security. They want Jordan and
Morocco to stay as moderate pro-Western states.”

Alterman added that GCC members regard “the experiment
of republican military rule [in the region] as a failure. After 50-60 years,
it’s run its course and the model of choice is enlightened monarchies.”

He predicted that the GCC would seek to funnel more
investment into Jordan and Morocco to ensure that they survive any popular
protests.

Iraq would seem a far more logical member of the alliance
given its location and status as a major oil producer.

Marc Lynch, a Middle East expert at George Washington
University who blogs at foreignpolicy.com, wrote Wednesday on his blog that
“GCC membership, by this argument, might embed Iraq in an institutional
structure which firmly rooted it in a pro-U.S. and anti-Iranian camp, while dramatically
increasing the size and power of the GCC alliance. But its exclusion from this
round isn’t that surprising.

“The Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia, remain
deeply hostile towards and suspicious of the Shi’a dominated Iraqi government
in general and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki specifically. They have never
been comfortable with its new democratic forms. ”

In a subsequent interview, Lynch told IPS that the move
appeared aimed at keeping “the kings on the reservation… This is the Gulf
monarchies reaching out to other monarchies to keep them from falling or
reforming.”

Lynch said he had heard reports that GCC members might also
bolster Jordan and Morocco by allowing in more laborers from those two states.

There have been other de-facto additions to the alliance in
the past. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice worked assiduously to
build what she called the GCC plus Two – GCC members plus Jordan and Egypt – to
contain an ascendant Iran and to blunt Iranian efforts to gain nuclear weapons
capacity.

However, Egypt is no longer led by the predictably
pro-Western Hosni Mubarak and has already made moves suggesting it will restore
diplomatic relations with Iran.

The Sunni monarchies “are clearly worried about Egypt,
which is the center of gravity in the Arab world,” Alterman said.

Saudi Arabia was particularly incensed by the fall of
Mubarak and has made clear that it will not permit regime change in Bahrain,
which is connected to Saudi Arabia’s predominantly Shi’a Eastern Province by a
16-mile causeway. Saudi Arabia and the UAE sent 1,500 troops into Bahrain on
Mar. 14 to shore up the island state’s Sunni monarchy after weeks of popular
protests.

Following Tuesday’s GCC summit, Zayani issued a statement
praising “the prudence of the leadership of the Kingdom of Bahrain and
faithfulness of its people, confirming that the security of the GCC member
countries is an integral issue and that the preservation of stability and
security is a collective responsibility.”

Bahrain has promised to lift a state of emergency in the
country Jun. 1. But hundreds of people have been killed or arrested and more
than 1,000 dismissed from their jobs in recent weeks in an effort to tamp down
dissent.

GCC officials have portrayed the protests as instigated by
Iran and Shi’a religious extremists. The GCC statement Tuesday said regional
leaders “expressed profound concern over the continual Iranian
interference in domestic affairs of the GCC member countries through committing
conspiracy against their national security, spreading sedition and sectarian
affliction among their peoples and flagrantly violating their sovereignty and
independence, the principles of good neighborhood, international norms and
laws, the United Nations Charter and the Organization of Islamic Conference
statute.”

However, Les Campbell, Middle East director for the National
Democratic Institute, a U.S. government-backed organization that teaches
democratic practices abroad, said the real issue in Bahrain was lack of
equitable popular representation in the parliament and cabinet.

“It’s very wrong to portray what is going on in Bahrain
as sectarian,” Campbell told an audience at the U.S. Institute of Peace in
Washington last month. “There is a system in Bahrain that is not
representative… In fact in Bahrain, there are many moderate societies and
leaders.”

Senate hearings to convene on Bahrain

As a result of requests, meetings, and events held by the
Islamic Information Center, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission will be
holding a hearing on human rights abuses in Bahrain this Friday, May 13, 2011.
Several of the speakers from the IIC Congressional Briefing on Bahrain will be
called on to testify before Congress regarding the humanitarian situation in
Bahrain. The Commission notes:

“Since mid-February, reports of human rights violations
in Bahrain have increased significantly as Bahraini authorities have attempted
to suppress anti-government protests. 
There have been numerous, credible reports of violence, intimidation,
inhumane treatment, and repression directed against peaceful protesters and
medical personnel treating injured protesters.  Even after protests effectively ended in mid-March, Bahraini
security personnel have continued to target the Shi’a community generally and
human rights defenders specifically.”

Meanwhile, Human Rights First issued a statement saying it
was gravely concerned at the unfair trial in Bahrain of 21 suspects involved in
recent protests calling for greater respect for human rights and democracy in
the island kingdom.

Human Rights First was refused entry at the courtroom door
despite assurances from the Bahraini authorities that human rights
organizations and other observers would be admitted. “Relatives of the
defendants who were permitted access told us they looked in bad physical and
mental shape,” said Brian Dooley of Human Rights First. “Several were
limping and others have suffered drastic weight loss. They have not had
adequate time to consult their lawyers, and there are credible reports of their
torture in custody.”

The 21 suspects before the Lower National Safety Court
included prominent human rights defenders and opposition leaders. They have
been charged with various national security crimes, including “insulting
the army,” “organizing and managing a terrorist group for the
overthrow and the change of the country’s constitution and the royal
rule,” and “seeking and correspond[ing] with a terrorist organization
abroad working for a foreign country to conduct heinous acts.”  Some of these charges carry the death
penalty.

“The U.S. government needs to take a stronger stance in
support of peaceful protesters in Bahrain demanding their legitimate rights for
an end to discrimination and for a more representative government,” said
Dooley. “Hesitation and perceived weakness in support of human rights in a
close U.S. ally like Bahrain weakens U.S. support for peaceful democratic
change throughout the region.”