Middle East
Bahrain Shia leader says Saudi force must go
Ali Salman says he does not want Bahrain to "turn into a conflict zone" between
Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Last Modified: 30 Mar 2011 14:32
More than 60 per cent of Bahrainis are Shia, and most are campaigning for a
constitutional monarchy [AFP]
Bahrain's Shia opposition leader has demanded that the Saudi-led force that was
invited into the country to help quell anti-government protests should leave
the country.
Ali Salman said on Wednesday that foreign troops must leave because the
opposition rejects "any military intervening for any party" in Bahrain.
About 1,500 troops from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states entered Bahrain two
weeks ago on the Sunni monarch's invitation.
Bahrain's king also declared emergency rule and cracked down heavily on
protesters who have challenged the royal family's monopoly on power.
Iran, the main Shia power in the region, strongly condemned the deployment. But
Salman on Wednesday also said Iran should not interfere.
He told reporters that "we don't want Bahrain to turn into a conflict zone"
between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Blogger arrested
Meanwhile, Bahrain is expanding the crackdown on the opposition, detaining a
prominent blogger, his family and a social media editor said.
Amira al-Hussaini, a Middle East and North Africa editor at Global Voices
Online said police took Mahmoud al-Youssef, the "godfather of the Bahraini
blogging community," into custody early on Wednesday. Two other internet
activists were also said to be arrested.
Al-Youssef has for years criticised the Bahraini government for curbing freedom
of expression, al-Hussaini said.
He has supported the Shia-led protests and advocated political reform through
dialogue between the government and the opposition.
Al-Youssef's brother, Jamal, confirmed the arrest. He said his brother was
taken into custody from his home in Duraz, an opposition stronghold northwest
of the capital Manama.
Government officials in Manama declined to comment.
The arrest comes a day after Bahrain's parliament accepted the resignations of
11 lawmakers from the Shia opposition in another sign that the political crisis
and sectarian divisions are deepening in the tiny Gulf kingdom.
The 11 lawmakers of Al Wefaq and seven other from the opposition's biggest
party submitted resignations last month over the deadly crackdown on
anti-government protests.
'Patients harassed'
US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Wednesday that Bahrain authorities
were harassing and isolating hospital patients wounded in the protests.
Twenty-four people died in the clashes, the government said on Tuesday, and the
Wefaq party said 250 people have been detained and another 44 have gone missing
since the crackdown.
"Human Rights Watch has documented several cases in which patients with
protest-related injuries were transferred to or sought treatment at Salmaniya
(hospital) and were then severely harassed or beaten," it said in a statement.
In the March 16 crackdown, Bahraini forces took over Salmaniya medical centre,
the country's largest public hospital.
The government has said it raided the hospital because it had been "overrun by
political and sectarian activity".
HRW cited several cases where patients were quickly picked up by police after
they gave hospitals their identification and cited the cause of their injuries
as tear gas, rubber bullets, and birdshot, which were all used to disperse
protesters.
HRW said the patients' families were given no information on the whereabouts or
condition of their relatives.
Source:
Agencies
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