BAHRAIN: Protesters rally for third day with thousands camped out in the capital and hundreds marching at a funeral for a man killed in earlier protests

Record ID: 801980

  • Title: BAHRAIN: Protesters rally for third day with thousands camped out in the capital and hundreds marching at a funeral for a man killed in earlier protests
  • Date: 17th February 2011
  • Summary: MANAMA, BAHRAIN (FEBRUARY 15, 2011) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SCENES) VARIOUS OF CARS AND PEOPLE AT THE PEARL ROUNDABOUT/SPEAKER IN BACKGROUND URGING PEOPLE TO STAY IN THE SQUARE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE CAMPED AT ROUNDABOUT, SOME SMOKING SHISHA MANAMA, BAHRAIN (FEBRUARY 16, 2011) (REUTERS) ( DAY SCENES) SIGN FOR MORTUARY AT SALMANYIA HOSPITAL/PEOPLE SHOUTING "PEOPLE WANT TO BRING
  • Embargoed: 4th March 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Bahrain, Bahrain
  • Country: Bahrain
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8DKD9DOGED4KEPFJ7M3CE365L
  • Story Text: Protesters in Bahrain, inspired by revolts that have toppled Arab rulers in Tunisia and Egypt, poured into the Gulf island kingdom's capital on Wednesday (February 16) to mourn a demonstrator killed in clashes with security forces.
    Over a thousand joined a funeral procession for the man, who was shot dead on Tuesday (February 15) when fighting broke out at the burial of another protester. Some 2,000 were camped out at a major road junction in the centre of Manama, hoping to emulate the rallies on Cairo's Tahrir Square and demanding a change of government.
    The Interior Ministry has promised to take legal action over the two deaths if it finds police used "unjustifiable" force.
    Bahrainis have a history of protest and the current unrest, in its third day, has been driven by familiar complaints of economic hardships, lack of political freedoms and sectarian discrimination by the Sunni rulers against the Shi'ite majority.
    "The people demand the fall of the regime!" protesters chanted as men pounded their chests in rhythm, a mourning gesture which is distinctive to the Shi'ite branch of Islam.
    Though itself only a minor oil exporter, Bahrain's stability is important for neighbouring Saudi Arabia, a key supporter of Bahrain's royal family and where key oilfields are home to an oppressed and occasionally restive Shi'ite minority.
    Bahrain is also a hub for banking and financial services in the Gulf and is home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.
    Protesters want the removal of the prime minister, Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, who has governed since British rule ended in 1971.
    For now, they have not sought change at the very top -- his nephew King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa has ultimate control over the 1.3 million people in Bahrain, half of them foreigners.
    Women dressed in black abaya cloaks followed the procession with their own chants calling for peace and Bahraini unity.
    Bahrain's Shi'ites, whose branch of Islam is found mostly in across the Gulf in Iran and among Arabs in Iraq and Lebanon, complain they are shut out of public housing, healthcare and government jobs and also that their rulers have tried to shift the demographic balance by making Sunni immigrants citizens.
    In a measure of investors' concerns, the cost of insuring Bahraini debt against the government defaulting hit an 18-month high on Wednesday, rising more than 6 percent.
    Bahrain's main stock index was flat.
    Near the protest site at Manama's Pearl Roundabout, police kept their distance, massing on a nearby dirt lot in dozens of cars. The Interior Ministry said roads were all open on the island, which, at 750 sq.km, is about the size of Singapore.
    The main Shi'ite opposition group Wefaq, which boycotted parliament in protest at the clampdown by the security forces, said it would hold talks with the government on Wednesday.
    Bahrain was considered the most vulnerable among Gulf Arab states to popular unrest in a region where, in an unwritten pact, rulers have traded a share of their oil wealth for political submission. Discontent has been expressed in sporadic unrest since the mid-1990s, well before popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt emboldened activists across the region.
    Activists also want the release of political prisoners, which the government has promised, and a new constitution.
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