Villagers in protest over camp report
Published: 24th February 2007
MANAMA: About 100 villagers staged a peaceful protest yesterday to repudiate an article in the Press that they had been hosting a militant training camp.
The people of Bani Jamra stood on the main road to their village holding placards that said there was no militant training camp in their area.
Several newspapers published a story on Tuesday saying there was such a camp in Bani Jamra.
One was illustrated with a photograph, which appeared simultaneously in two other newspapers, that was supposedly taken at the training camp. Taken outdoors, the photograph showed no people, but a box of bottles that the caption claimed to be Molotov cocktails.
Villagers in protest over camp report
Published: 24th February 2007
MANAMA: About 100 villagers staged a peaceful protest yesterday to repudiate an article in the Press that they had been hosting a militant training camp.
The people of Bani Jamra stood on the main road to their village holding placards that said there was no militant training camp in their area.
Several newspapers published a story on Tuesday saying there was such a camp in Bani Jamra.
One was illustrated with a photograph, which appeared simultaneously in two other newspapers, that was supposedly taken at the training camp. Taken outdoors, the photograph showed no people, but a box of bottles that the caption claimed to be Molotov cocktails.
On Wednesday, Arabic newspaper Al Wasat published a story saying it had investigated but failed to find any evidence of a militant training camp in the village. It also said that the photograph had been distributed to the Press by the Interior Ministry in January 2006.
The ministry did not deny Al Wasat’s charge, but it issued a statement yesterday saying that Molotov cocktail bottles had been found in the vicinity of Bani Jamra early this week.
Youths yesterday continued a two-week campaign of burning tyres on highways in and around Manama. They were demanding the release of two men jailed last month after being convicted of “damaging the public interest” by distributing anti-government leaflets.
A number of youths have been referred to the Public Prosecution, said Interior Ministry assistant under-secretary for legal affairs Colonel Mohammed Rashid Bou Humood.
Top Shi’ite cleric Shaikh Isa Qassim, meanwhile, denounced the campaign. “We are against burning of tyres, blocking of highways or creation of traffic jams. I call on all youths to stay away from these deplorable actions,” he said in Duraz.
© Gulf Daily News
