Burning tents are seen in Pearl Square after Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) forces evacuated anti-government protesters, in Manama late March 16, 2011. Calm returned to the streets of the Gulf Arab island after Bahraini forces used tanks and helicopters to drive protesters off the streets and clear a camp that had become a symbol of their demand for more rights and powers on the Sunni-ruled island. Picture taken March 16, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Hamad I Mohammed
MANAMA |
MANAMA (Reuters) - Bahrain arrested at least six opposition leaders on Thursday, a day after its crackdown on protests by the Shi'ite Muslim majority drew rare U.S. criticism and raised fears of a regional conflict.
Bahraini forces used tanks and helicopters to drive protesters off the streets and clear a camp that had become a symbol of their demand for more democratic rights in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.
Three police and three protesters died in the crackdown.
The crackdown prompted sympathy protests from Shi'ites across the region and analysts said it might provoke a response from Iran, which supports Shi'ite groups in Iraq and Lebanon.
Pearl roundabout was a scene of devastation. Some tattered tents remained on the grass as diggers uprooted palm trees that surrounded the pearl statue where activists had been celebrating into the night only days before.
Troops were only allowing residents in and a long line of cars was backed up behind a checkpoint, waving through drivers heading to work in the financial district, where the protesters had tried to extend their sit-in early this week.
The military on Wednesday banned all protests and imposed a curfew from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. across a large swathe of Manama.
Bank branches and coffee shops in the commercial district prepared to open. "It's back to normal, I can see traffic on King Faisal Highway. We drove all the way to work," said a bank employee.
OPPOSITION DETAINED
Among those detained overnight were Haq leader Hassan Mushaima and Wafa leader Abdel Wahhab Hussein, who had led calls for the overthrow of the royal family, the largest opposition party Wefaq said.
More moderate Wefaq had limited its demands to wide-ranging political and constitutional reform. Also arrested was Ibrahim Sharif, head of the secular leftist party Waad that signed up to the same demands as Wefaq.
"Two of the thugs climbed over the fence to get in our yard, one went over and pointed a gun in Ibrahim's face and the other went to our garage to let everyone else in," Farida Ismail, Sharif's wife, told Reuters by telephone. "They were going around, wrecking things in the house."
The interior ministry could not immediately be reached for comment and the charges against those arrested were not known.
The unrest has brought an influx of troops to Bahrain from Sunni-ruled neighbors Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, which fear the uprising that began last month could play into the hands of non-Arab Shi'ite power Iran.
Washington's position appeared ambiguous.
No comments:
Post a Comment