In Manama, a police officer who suffered severe burns in a petrol-bomb attack is "critical but stable," a Bahraini hospital said Saturday, as the king vowed the government would show no tolerance for terrorists. Fazal Rehman, 34, a Pakistani national, was one of six Bahraini policemen wounded when assailants threw Molotov cocktails into a police bus as it was driving through a large town southeast of the capital on Thursday night.
| I wonder if the other cops were Pakistani nationals, too? |
Rehman suffered 60 per cent burns to his body and is "in critical but stable condition," and employee of the Salmaniyah hospital, Manama, told The Associated Press on Saturday. He is expected to undergo surgery soon. The other four wounded policemen have been discharged after receiving treatment for minor burns. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack, which the government blamed on "unidentified terrorists."
| Well, they're terrorists, and they don't know who they are yet, so I guess that's the category to leave them in for now. But... |
The place where the attack occurred, Sitra, is an overwhelmingly Shiite Muslim town and home to many opposition supporters. During the unrest of the mid-1990s, which was fueled by Shiite demands for political rights and jobs, Sitra was a hotbed of anti-government sentiment. Shiites enjoy a slight majority of Bahrain's 400,000 citizens, but the ruling family is from the Muslim Sunni sect. Addressing the interior minister and security chiefs on Saturday, the king, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa,said terrorism challenged the country's democratic revival.
The king has taken big strides toward turning Bahrain into a constitutional monarchy in the past four years. Last year, the country held its first legislative elections since 1973. But several Shiite-dominated opposition groups, notably the Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, boycotted the polls because the constitution provides for an upper house of parliament that is appointed by the king. They have also called on the government to employ more Shiites in the Defense and Interior Ministries.
| Bus bombing in Karachi, full of Shiites... bus bombing in Manama, full of... Paks? Could this be Dire Revenge™? |
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