Bahraini Shiites clash with riot police
The Associated Press
Article Launched: 12/18/2007 02:37:30 PM MST
SANABIS, Bahrain—Hundreds of Bahraini Shiites clashed with riot police Tuesday after the funeral of a protester who died after a similar confrontation a day earlier.
Police used tear gas and chased the protesters through the streets of Sanabis, a village on the outskirts of Manama, capital of the small island kingdom. Protesters hurled stones at police and burned tires as the turmoil stretched into the evening.
Bahraini Shiites clash with riot police
The Associated Press
Article Launched: 12/18/2007 02:37:30 PM MST
SANABIS, Bahrain—Hundreds of Bahraini Shiites clashed with riot police Tuesday after the funeral of a protester who died after a similar confrontation a day earlier.
Police used tear gas and chased the protesters through the streets of Sanabis, a village on the outskirts of Manama, capital of the small island kingdom. Protesters hurled stones at police and burned tires as the turmoil stretched into the evening.
There was no official comment on the protest and no reports on injuries or arrests.
The unrest followed the funeral of a protester who died Monday after a rally in which Shiites commemorated a deadly political upheaval that began in Bahrain in 1994 and lasted for several years.
Abdul-Jalil al-Singace, head of the Haq human rights group, told The Associated Press by telephone from London that the protester, 30-year-old Ali Jassem, died after inhaling large amounts of tear gas.
Relatives said Jassem died just after returning home from Monday’s rally.
However, the Bahraini Interior Ministry said in a statement that the man died of “natural causes” according to medical reports.
Monday’s demonstration coincided with the tiny island kingdom’s second day of celebrations marking the ruler’s coronation. Shiite Arabs, who make up a majority of the population in Bahrain, have waged an occasionally violent campaign against perceived discrimination by the ruling Sunni family.
The Persian Gulf kingdom is a close U.S. ally.