BAHRAIN: Mayhem as Manama protesters clash with security forces

Record ID: 591282

  • Title: BAHRAIN: Mayhem as Manama protesters clash with security forces
  • Date: 14th March 2011
  • Summary: MANAMA, BAHRAIN (MARCH 13, 2011) (REUTERS) RIOT POLICE, AMBULANCES AND PROTESTERS OUTSIDE BAHRAIN UNIVERSITY WHERE CLASHES TOOK PLACE INSIDE EARLIER INSIDE THE UNIVERSITY BETWEEN STUDENTS PROTESTERS RUNNING AWAY FROM TEAR GAS AMBULANCES SURROUNDED BY PROTESTERS PROTESTERS RUNNING AWAY FROM TEAR GAS RIOT POLICE FIRING TEAR GAS TEAR GAS SMOKE PROTESTERS RUNNING AWAY
  • Embargoed: 29th March 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Bahrain, Bahrain
  • Country: Bahrain
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA2KVWLIOEEJHF29C4X1F8JFXKP
  • Story Text: Protesters blocked a main thoroughfare to Bahrain Financial Harbour on Sunday (March 13), a major business district in the Gulf Arab banking centre, facing off with police who fired rounds of tear gas and rubber bullets.
    In one of the most violent confrontations since troops opened fire on protesters last month, youths erected barricades across the highway after overwhelming riot police near the Pearl roundabout, the focal point of weeks of demonstrations.
    The Financial Harbour has become a symbol of what protesters say are royal excesses.
    In a statement earlier in the day, the Interior Ministry urged all protesters to return to the Pearl roundabout for their own safety. It said the police had cleared protest tents from Bahrain Financial Harbour after one policeman was stabbed and another was taken to hospital with head wounds.
    One demonstrator showed a round red mark on his chest, which he said was from a tear gas canister shot directly at him.
    Others showed a Reuters reporter rubber bullets they said were fired by police.
    In another incident, police fired tear gas to separate a group of Shi'ite Muslim protesters at Bahrain University from a group of Sunnis armed with sticks, witnesses said.
    Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, has been gripped by its worst unrest since the 1990s after protesters took to the streets last month, inspired by uprisings that toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia.
    The tiny kingdom has seen weeks of rallies by its Shi'ite majority, which says it is discriminated against by the Sunni royal family. The unrest is being closely watched in Saudi Arabia, where Shi'ites are some 15 percent of the population.
    Saudi, the world's top oil exporter has seen small protests in the Eastern Province, where its oil industry is based and which is home to most Shi'ites in the conservative Sunni kingdom.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register