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| Arabia |
| Bahraini police break up protest demanding release of detainees |
| 2006-03-13 |
| About 300 Bahrainis demonstrated Saturday to demand the release of at least 16 people who are serving jail terms for sabotage, the second protest in two days to be broken up by police using tear gas. The demonstration began in the early evening near the downtown Al Khawaja Mosque, where protesters chanted and carried banners reading “Free our children from prison.” An information ministry spokesman said police dispersed Saturday's crowd because they had not received permission to hold a demonstration. He said the police used tear gas but there were no clashes with protesters as there had been the day before. Political activist Abduljalil Al Singace, in an e-mail to the Associated Press, said police also used rubber bullets to break up the protest. A security official at the interior ministry, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media, denied the use of rubber bullets. Singace said the demonstration was to demand the release of the prisoners — convicted of rioting after their Shiite cleric was briefly detained in December — as well as of 20 people detained after Friday's protest. Witnesses said at least 11 people were wounded when police used batons and tear gas to break up that demonstration. Some demonstrators moved on to the villages of Daih and Sanabis, east of the capital, where some set fire to tyres and garbage bins. Late in the evening, hundreds of riot police lined the streets, keeping people from moving in the area. Witnesses said at least 25 masked youth were still in the area, however, no demonstrators could be seen from behind the police barricade. |
| Posted by:Fred |