Protest as Brit's queen hosts Bahraini tyrant

Human rights campaigners have orgainsed a protest outside the Bahraini embassy in London to raise their voices against the invitation of ‘Bahraini tyrant’ to a Diamond Jubilee event. Human rights activists are outraged that the King of Bahrain will lunch with the Queen at Windsor Castle - after his regime was accused of a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy campaigners. Protestors say the guest list at today's special Jubilee lunch features a range of foreign monarchs who have been widely condemned for their human rights records, or their extravagant lifestyles. Among the guests sitting down with the Queen is the King of Bahrain, where demonstrations calling for more democratic involvement in the country's government were violently suppressed, with the help of Saudi troops. At least fifty people have been killed in the tiny Persian Gulf island nation since February last year. Campaigners have described the invitation to King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa as "inappropriate, insensitive, and ill-advised." "The King of Bahrain has been incriminated in grave violations of human rights. While he basks in the magnaminity of today's pomp and ceremony, the people of Bahrain are being shot, tear-gassed and tortured by his security forces. The British royal family is staining their own reputation by keeping company of dictators", said the writer and pro-democracy activist, Dr Ala'a Shebabi. Other guests from controversial regimes are also at the lunch, including Swaziland's King Mswati, who has 13 wives, and is Africa's last absolute monarch. He is accused of leading a lavish lifestyle while his people are starving. The rulers of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are there too - human rights group Amnesty International has accused both countries of rights violations. The human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has called on protestors to gather outside Buckingham palace tonight as guests arrive for dinner with Prince Charles, demanding that invitations to those he described as "royal tyrants" should be withdrawn. "Inviting these blood-soaked dictators brings shame to the monarchy and tarnishes the Diamond Jubilee celebrations", he said. "The invitations are a shocking misjudgement. They show the Queen is out of touch with the humanitarian values of most British people. She's putting royalty before human rights."