If somebody gives me his hand, I will not look at him with suspicion.

You cannot transpose the U.S. system on Turkey, and the Turkish system on France etc. You have to understand the people and their culture. That's leadership.

The decision to open up Bahrain to embrace all people indiscriminately was fostered in me ever since I was a child.

There is no ethnic cleansing in Bahrain, no mass genocide, no policy of killing innocent people.

It's good to have a leader, otherwise we argue too much.

Our people have proven their desire for continuing with reforms. We complete the march today with those who have an honest patriotic desire for more progress and reform.

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.