Bahraini Police Crack Down on Protestors Clearing Central Sqare in the Capital City
Crackdown on Pearl Square (article.wn.com)
Protest in Bahrain turns ugly as the police forces storm the protest camp in Manama, the capital, on Thursday, in order to prevent the demonstrators from becoming as determined as the ones in Egypt, that have been able to depose Hosni Mubarak, one of the long-standing leaders of the Arab world.
Three people were killed by the violent crackdown, while many other people report via phone calls or internet that they have been hurt or beaten up by police.
Crackdown on Pearl Square (msnbc.msn.com)
Forty police and armored vehicles and at least one tank have been seen in and around the Pearl Square, the center of the protest, in an attempt made by the authorities to make sure the people do not gain momentum and the protest does not get out of hand.
Wefaq, the main Shi’ite political bloc, with 17 seats in the 40-seat parliament, announced that its MPs would quit the house in protest for the violent turn of events.
The leader of Wefaq said that 60 people went missing after the crackdown, that occurred at 3 pm local time. He asks whether they were arrested or are in the houses, hiding with fear. He said that the number was the result of phone calls received from relatives.
The protest in Bahrain, where the majority of the Shi’ite population is being ruled by a Sunni royal family, began three days ago, with people demanding more saying in the public affairs, considering that the will of the majority is not respected nor is it heard in the state.
King of Bahrain (newshopper.sulekha.com)
Since the moment the unrest started, until the moment the police dispersed the people in Pearl Square today, five people have been killed by police and at least 45 (according to police) to at most 100 (according to Wefaq) have been injured.
The British Foreign Ministry displayed concern at the way police has dealt with the situation, advising them to use restraint and to make sure the people who were injured get to be treated immediately.
The attack on protesters lasted for twenty minutes, media reports say, during which time police succeeded in dispersing the people in the square, who ran living behind cars, tents, garbage and other things.
Many were hit by rubber bullets and the teargas engulfed the square determining the protestors to flee the place.
People complain that the attack on them on Thursday was unannounced as if the police and the army were targeting an enemy not the population of the country.
The army troops replaced the riot police as soon as tow-trucks removed the cars left behind by demonstrators.
The Wefaq party had asked on Wednesday for a new constitution that would place the country on the track of democracy. In a statement, the party mentioned that they were not looking for a religious state, but for a democratic one, “in which the people are the source of power in the country.”
King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa has introduced a constitution in the country a decade ago allowing the people some rights but the opposition fears those are not enough to secure a democratic state.
These claims are fueled by the fact that the members of Bahraini government are mostly relatives of the royal family.
