Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

Bahrainis are better off than many other Arabs. We have a welfare state, everybody gets a salary whether they have a job or not. Electricity and food are subsidized; school and healthcare are free. And we don't differentiate between Bahrainis and foreigners. We are very proud of that. ”

Democracy is not just constitutional and legislative rules; it is a culture and practice and adhering by the law and respecting international human rights principles. ”

In establishing democracy, we have to be sensitive to the regional and national context. Democracy also means to guarantee the rights of the minorities. That's my job as a king. We have for example a Jewish ambassador in the US and a Christian in the UK. ”

There are no 'political prisoners' as such in Bahrain. People are not arrested because they express their views, we only have criminals. ”

In a sense there is no 'opposition' in Bahrain, as the phrase implies one unified block with the same views. Such a phrase is not in our constitution, unlike say the United Kingdom. We only have people with different views and that's ok. ”

We invite American companies looking to raise capital to list on the Bahrain Stock Exchange. The region has a liquidity oversupply approximating $1 trillion and this pool of capital can be tapped into by creative American companies. The next Facebook may very well get funded on the BSE. ”

If people have done something wrong then they should be held accountable. ”

By being friends with all, we are not alone. ”

We have evidence that a number of Bahrainis who oppose our government are being trained in Syria. I have seen the files and we have notified the Syrian authorities, but they deny any involvement. ”

The reform process began with the historic consensus on the Charter of National Action, in which the Bahraini people decided on a new chapter of their history. ”