Saturday December 22, 2007 12:46 AM
MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) – Riot police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse another day of demonstrations in Bahrain on Friday, rounding up scores of protesters and injuring at least one, witnesses said.
The protests, the fourth this week, came after dawn raids by security forces on the homes of the country’s most outspoken opposition group, arresting at least seven of its members, the group said.
Saturday December 22, 2007 12:46 AM
MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) – Riot police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse another day of demonstrations in Bahrain on Friday, rounding up scores of protesters and injuring at least one, witnesses said.
The protests, the fourth this week, came after dawn raids by security forces on the homes of the country’s most outspoken opposition group, arresting at least seven of its members, the group said.
The Haq Movement for Liberty and Democracy issued a statement saying that police attacked worshippers in the capital, Manama, after Friday prayers.
“They were faced brutally by the Special Forces, which entered the mosque … while pursuing the rest who fled towards the nearby Water Garden park. Tear gas was fired on the people in the park,” said the statement, which was in English.
In a statement issued late Friday, the interior ministry accused the arrested protesters of destroying public property including a police vehicle that was set on fire Thursday.
“After following legal procedures, they were arrested and transferred to the general prosecution office,” the statement said without indicating how many people had been taken.
Shiites account for about 70 percent of Bahrain’s 450,000 citizens, but the ruling family is Sunni. Economic disparities between the ruling elite and the poorer majority have contributed to feelings of marginalization among Shiites, who have waged an occasionally violent campaign against the government.
The clashes began on Monday, during demonstrations marking 10 years since a leading Shiite figure died in a wave of protests over perceived discrimination of the Muslim sect by the Sunni rulers of the country.
One demonstrator, Ali Jassem, died after inhaling tear gas in Monday’s clashes and protests flared anew.
The kingdom is a close U.S. ally. The oil-refining and banking island also hosts the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet.