Saeed al-Shehabi

Saeed al-Shehabi
سعيد الشهابي
Born1954
Bahrain
Occupation(s)Political activist, journalist, commentator, and member of the Bahrain Freedom Movement

Saeed al-Shehabi (Arabic:سعيد الشهابي, born 1954) is a London-based Bahraini political activist, journalist, commentator and member of the Bahrain Freedom Movement.[1]

Education

Shehabi did his primary and secondary education in Bahrain before moving to the United Kingdom in 1973 to study for advanced degrees.[2][3]

Shehabi earned his BSc and PhD (in Control Engineering) from the City University London.[2]

Career

Shehabi was a pro-democracy activist in Bahrain and founder of al-Wefaq, a pro-democracy political organization in Bahrain which the government of Bahrain dissolved.[1] The Bahrain government has repeatedly and publicly denounced Dr Shebabi, as a result of his political activism and demanded that he be expelled from the United Kingdom.[4][5] In the past, Bahrain opposition groups have been accused of links to the Iranian government, which has sought to annex the island nation based on historic and demographic claims for decades.[6][7]  

According to the London-based Centre for the Study of Terrorism, of which he is a Trustee, Shahabi edited the London-based Pan-Arabic weekly Al Aalam from 1983 to 1999 and, in addition to being Chairman of the Gulf Cultural Club, serves as a trustee of two Muslim charities located in London, the Dar Al-Hekma Trust and the Abrar Islamic Foundation, and writes "regularly" for Al-Quds and The Muslim News.[2]

The BBC describes Shehabi as "leader of a Bahraini opposition group in London".[8]

Shehabi gained British citizenship in 2002.[9]

In 2012 the Kingdom of Bahrain stripped Shehabi of his Bahraini citizenship, accusing him and 30 other activists with being a "threat to the state's security"[10]

Personal life

Al-Shehabi has one daughter, Ala'a Shehabi, who is a democracy rights activist in Bahrain. In 2015 She published a book with British scholar Marc Owen Jones on the Arab Spring protests in Bahrain.[11]

References

  1. ^ Dr. Saeed Shahabi - 32nd Anniversary Islamic Revolution - Islamic Centre of England - English - ShiaTV.net, retrieved 2023-09-10
  2. ^ a b c Centre for the Study of Terrorism Archived 2011-09-12 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "High Court rules dissidents can bring FinFisher spyware claims against Kingdom of Bahrain in the UK | Leigh Day". www.leighday.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
  4. ^ "UK urged to expel 'coup plotters'". Evening Standard. 2012-04-12. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  5. ^ "High Court rules dissidents can bring FinFisher spyware claims against Kingdom of Bahrain in the UK | Leigh Day". www.leighday.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  6. ^ "Iran and Bahrain | Council on Foreign Relations". www.cfr.org. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  7. ^ Dagres, Holly (2024-06-12). "Will Bahrain and Iran turn a new page? There's been talk of it". Atlantic Council. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  8. ^ "Bahrain's soldiers 'don't want to continue to kill anybody'". 2011-03-17. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
  9. ^ "High Court rules dissidents can bring FinFisher spyware claims against Kingdom of Bahrain in the UK | Leigh Day". www.leighday.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
  10. ^ Al-Arab, Saad Abedine,Mustafa (2012-11-07). "Bahrain strips Shiite activists of citizenship amid unrest". CNN. Retrieved 2024-09-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Shehabi, Ala'a; Jones, Marc Owen (2015-09-15). Bahrain's Uprising: Resistance and Repression in the Gulf. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78360-435-7.