Bahrain: Blackberries Welcome

The Bahraini government took out a full-page advertisement in The Economist this week promoting an image of Bahrain as a bastion of technological freedom and indicating that it does not intend to initiate a ban on Blackberry communications, in opposition to its fellow Gulf nations Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The ad features a photo of a Blackberry phone, with a message on the screen reading, “Bahrain has the most liberal telecoms market in the Gulf.” Khalid Al Jalahma, deputy chief of mission at Bahrain’s U.S. embassy, remarked, “Bahrain isn’t going to put up a wall,” adding, “These restrictions make it a lot less friendly and more difficult for businessmen who come into town. We are just putting it out there [that] we are not planning on doing this.”