14th/ 15th/ 16th February 2014

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

al-Wefaq movement was one of the biggest staged since 2011.

Bahrain protest attracts tens of thousands, no clashes

Tens of thousands of Bahrainis joined a peaceful demonstration on Saturday to mark the third anniversary of an abortive pro-democracy uprising led by majority Shi'ite Muslims. The rally organized by the kingdom's main opposition

Vast crowds of men, women and children took to the streets of the small Gulf Arab nation calling for democracy, political reform and the release of political prisoners, witnesses said. "We will not stop until we achieve our demands," protesters shouted. "Shi'ites and Sunnis, we all love this country." Read More was a focus of protests in 2011.

Bahrain protesters, police clash on anniversary

Pro-democracy demonstrators clashed with police in Bahrain on Thursday as they marked the third anniversary of an Arab Spring-inspired protest movement that was quelled with the help of GCC troops, witnesses said. It was the rst of three days of protests called by the

Shiite-led opposition to mark Fridays anniversary as they seek to give new momentum to their campaign for a constitutional monarchy in the Gulf state. Clouds of tear gas billowed from the streets of several villages outside the capital Manama as security forces attempted to dismantle roadblocks of burning tyres, the witnesses said. The opposition has been demanding an elected government. Read More The Interior Ministry characterized recent attacks against security forces as urban guerrilla warfare and said that a police ofcer had died of injuries sustained from an earlier bombing. The ofcer was one of two wounded in what the ministry called a terrorist blast on Friday in Dair, a village near the main airport. Read More Hundreds of young people had gathered in the capital city of Manama for the purpose of commemorating the three years since the anti-government demonstrations of Feb. 14, 2011, the Associated Press reports. Some of the people attempting to enter Pearl Square, the main nexus of the uprisings, were seen carrying Bahraini ags, metal rods and unlit Molotov cocktails. But the area had been sealed off by security forces, AP reports. Read More

Bahrain protests mark three years since revolt

Protesters in Bahrain have tried to reach the site of a bloody crackdown on demonstrators almost three years ago. Police used tear gas to stop them from reaching the Pearl Roundabout, which

The protesters have been demanding more rights and an end to discrimination against the majority Shia community by the Sunni royal family. Since then, police and demonstrators have scufed almost daily. Thousands of people have been arrested. Read More breakthrough to end the turmoil remains elusive.!

Bahraini Protesters Clash With Police

Thousands of Bahraini protesters clashed with security forces on Saturday, sending tear gas into a major shopping mall and bringing activity on the capitals streets to a standstill.

Low-level conflict afflicts Bahrain on third uprising anniversary

Three years after the eruption of a popular uprising in Bahrain that security forces subdued but have failed to stamp out, the ruling family has launched a new dialogue with the opposition but a

Bahrains fellow conservative Gulf Arab states and the West have high stakes in the stability of the island monarchy because it hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet and lies at the heart of a tussle for regional inuence between Shiite Iran and Sunni powerhouse and world No. 1 oil producer Saudi Arabia. Read More

Bahrain Makes Arrests Ahead of Uprising Anniversary

The government of Bahrain on Friday arrested 29 people as protesters sought to commemorate the third anniversary of antigovernment demonstrations that briey shook the country at the height of the Arab Spring.

CLASHES, TEARGAS MARK THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF BAHRAIN UPRISING

Clashes with police have marked the third anniversary of the Bahrain uprising that had seen numerous human rights violations by the government and wide social discontent of the majority Shia population with the minority ruling Sunni monarchy.

Police have used tear gas in a number of villages outside the capital Manama across the small island nation as the security forces moved in to disperse gatherings. In some districts protesters have been setting barricades of burning tires to prevent police from moving in. Protesters were chanting Down with Hamad, referring to the king and Only to Allah we kneel. Read More

Thousands demonstrate in Bahrain to mark uprising anniversary

Saturday's rally saw crowds of men, women and children taking to streets in and near the capital, Manama, to call for more democracy. The demonstration was called by the kingdom's main opposition movement, the Shiite al-Wefaq.

It was one of the largest protests staged since 2011, when pro-democracy demonstrations began on February 14, inspired by Arab Spring uprisings elsewhere. Some media reports say clashes between protesters and police broke out after the demonstrators had marched several kilometers (miles), with police ring tear gas into the crowd. Read More

Clashes mark anniversary of Bahrain protests

Security forces have clashed with protesters!trying to march towards the Bahraini capital's symbolic Pearl Roundabout to mark the third anniversary of the country's anti-government protests, witnesses said. Protesters, who gathered in several Shia villages on

Friday to walk towards the roundabout, where demonstrators camped out for a month in early 2011 before being violently dispersed by troops, were met with tear gas and bird shot, according to witnesses who spoke to AFP. Several demonstrators were wounded as forces beefed up security around the area and dispersed protesters emerging from nearby villages, sources said. Read More Efforts to restart on-and-off reconciliation talks between the Shiite-dominated opposition and the Sunni monarchy and its allies have so far failed to bring an end to simmering unrest in the country, an American ally that hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. Activists frequently clash with police in mainly Shiite villages just beyond the modern skyscrapers and shopping malls of the capital, Manama. Read More

Bahrain protesters mark uprising anniversary

Protesters took to the tense streets of Bahrain on

Saturday to mark the third anniversary of an Arab Spring-inspired uprising as a policeman died of wounds suffered a day earlier. Duration: 00:34 Watch here

Video: Violence on eve of third anniversary of uprising in Bahrain

Violence erupted in villages outside the Bahraini capital Manama on February 13, the day before the third anniversary of an antigovernment uprising.

According to Al Jazeera, Thursday was the the rst of three days of protests that the opposition hopes will breathe new air into their campaign for a constitutional monarchy. This video shows a thick fog of tear gas amid clashes between protesters and riot police. Credit: Youtube/daihmedia Watch here Efforts to restart on-and-off reconciliation talks between the Shiite-dominated opposition and the Sunni monarchy and its allies have so far failed to bring an end to simmering unrest in the country, an American ally that hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. Activists frequently clash with police in the mainly Shiite villages just beyond the modern skyscrapers and shopping malls of the capital, Manama. Read More

Bahrain: Explosions hit police and activists clash with authorities on uprising's anniversary
Explosions targeted police in Bahrain on Friday as clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters on the third anniversary of the Gulf nation's uprising left dozens wounded, authorities and activists said.

Bahrain blast targets police bus

An explosion rocked a bus carrying police in Bahrain on Friday, while security forces used tear gas in clashes with antigovernment protesters on the third anniversary of an uprising in the small Gulf island nation.

Bahrain police bus in bomb attack in Shiite village

A Bahraini police bus was struck in a bomb attack in the Shiite village of Daih on Friday, the interior ministry said, without giving an immediate report of casualties.

"Terrorist explosion in Daih damaged a bus transporting police personnel," it announced in an English-language statement on Twitter. Witnesses said a loud explosion was heard in Daih and police cordoned off the area. Read More

police ofcer died of injuries sustained from an earlier bombing.

Thousands protest in Bahrain, police officer dies from previous day's bomb blast
Thousands of Bahraini protesters clashed with security forces on Saturday, sending tear gas into a major shopping mall and bringing the capital's streets to a standstill on the same day that authorities said a

wounded in a "terror blast" in the village of Dair.

The Interior Ministry said that the ofcer was one of two injured in what it called a "terrorist blast" on Friday in the village of Dair, near the country's main airport. It did not identify the ofcer. In a second statement, the ministry characterized recent attacks against security forces as "urban guerrilla warfare." Read More Shiite village of Dair. Three other policemen were injured in a separate explosion at Daih village, about 14 km (8.6 miles) away, the interior ministry said on Twitter. The wounded policemen at Dair were on duty to secure the roads, while the personnel injured at Daih were travelling on a bus when the blast occurred, according to an AFP report. Read More The two servicemen were wounded when an explosion hit a bus carrying them in the coastal village in Muharraq, Bahrains second-largest island. A picture released by the ministry showed the white minibus with its side panels torn. Read More

Thousands protest in Bahrain, police officer dies from previous day's bomb blast
A policeman in Bahrain has died of wounds from a bomb blast during protests marking Friday's third anniversary of the country's uprising. The interior ministry said he was one of two ofcers

Another three policemen were injured by an explosion near the village of Dih. Protesters were marking the 2011 unrest fuelled by demands for more rights and an end to discrimination against the majority Shia community. Read More

Arab-Spring: Police Officer Killed in Blast on Third Anniversary of Bahrain Uprising

A bomb blast during protests marking Bahrain's third anniversary of the Arab spring-inspired uprising has claimed a police ofcer's life. He was one of two wounded policemen in the blast at the predominantly

demonstrators attempted to reach the site of a brutal crackdown almost three years ago.

Arab-Spring: Police Officer Killed in Blast on Third Anniversary of Bahrain Uprising

A policeman has died after being injured in a bomb attack in Bahrain. The blast happened during protests marking the third anniversary of the countrys uprising on Friday when

The policeman was one of two ofcers wounded in the village of Dair close to the capital in an explosion described by the interior ministry as a terror blast. The ministry added that a parked car was set on re with Molotov cocktails and a police bus damaged in the incident. Read More

Bahrain cop injured in Friday attack dies

One of the two policemen who were injured in a terror blast on Friday in the northern village of Dair has died, the interior ministry said on Saturday morning.

Policeman killed in Bahrain blast laid to rest

The policeman who was killed in a terror blast in the northern village of Dair was laid to rest on Saturday afternoon. A large number of Bahrainis and residents, led by interior minister Shaikh Rashid Bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, and senior ofcers were at the Riffa cemetery to mourn the death of Abdul

Wahid Sayed Mohammad who died on Saturday from fatal injuries in a blast on Friday. Bahrain witnessed on Friday several celebrations to mark the 13th anniversary of the National Action Charter, the ministry said. However, some villages saw rioting, vandalism and the targeting of policemen. This required police to respond to these criminal acts with legal means, it said. Read More

Bahrain Arrests Demonstrators Ahead of Uprising Anniversary

Bahrain has arrested scores of people ahead of todays third anniversary of a pro-democracy uprising. Opposition activists began protesting the U.S.-backed

Sunni regime on February 14, 2011, amidst political upheaval in Egypt and Tunisia. The protests have been crushed by martial law and a U.S.-backed invasion of Saudi Arabian forces. Bahrain is a key U.S. government ally in the Gulf, hosting the Navys 5th Fleet. Activists have deed a government crackdown to hold protests throughout the week, and more rallies are expected today. Read More Since the beginning of 2014, the Bahrain Center of Human Rights (BCHR) has documented 146 unwarranted arrests, many of which were made during the systematic night raids on the homes of those who refuse to drop the baton in the struggle for economic and political reform. That gure could easily rise in the coming days, not least because in the run-up to the anniversary, the penalty for publicly offending King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, the Bahraini ag or emblem has been increased to between one and seven years behind bars. The offense also now carries a ne of up to $26,000. Read More prosecutor Mohammed Salah as saying the two were found guilty of premeditated attempted murder and possessing a Kalashnikov assault rie and ammunition. BNA said the prosecution found that the "defendants had intended to kill a number of policemen" and "waited for the victims and shot at their vehicle". Read More

Bahrain jails 2 for 15 years for attacking police

A Bahrain court today handed down 15-year jail terms to two people convicted of trying to kill police ofcers in the Gulfstate rocked by violence for three years. The ofcial BNA news agency cited acting chief

prosecutor Mohammed Salah as saying the two were found guilty of premeditated attempted murder and possessing a Kalashnikov assault rie and ammunition. BNA said the prosecution found that the "defendants had intended to kill a number of policemen" and "waited for the victims and shot at their vehicle". Read More

Bahrain's PR sheen can't hide abuse allegations

Three years ago this week, Bahrainis joined the wave of revolutions sweeping the Arab world and took their long harbored grievances to the streets. Their demonstrations were cut short when a Saudi-led Gulf force rolled in to help silence them. And although the foreign tanks and troops have long since left, the silencing has endured.

Bahrain accuses Iranian supreme leader of inciting protests

Bahrain on Saturday accused Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of inciting antigovernment protests in the kingdom, pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat reported. The demonstrations come a day ahead of the third anniversary of Bahrain's Feb. 14, 2011 protests, where thousands of people took to the streets in

unprecedented numbers asking for political reforms in the majority-Shiite country governed by a powerful Sunni party. Sameera Rajab, a government spokesman, said Saturday in a statement that attacks on security forces recently were "connected with Khamenei's calls for Bahraini's resistance," which was made by the Iranian supreme leader "in a meeting with a delegation from the Feb. 14 terrorist organization." Read More

Bahrain jails 2 for 15 years for attacking police

A Bahrain court today handed down 15-year jail terms to two people convicted of trying to kill police ofcers in the Gulfstate rocked by violence for three years. The ofcial BNA news agency cited acting chief

Bahrain Justice Min. accuses Wefaq Islamic Society of inciting violence

Minister of Justice Sheikh Khaled bin Ali Al-Khalifa accused Al-Wefaq Islamic Society Saturday of inciting violence, and "harboring saboteurs and terrorists." Sheikh Khaled, also Minister of Islamic Affairs and Endowment, said leaders of the Society were playing a detrimental role in fuelling violence in Bahrain.

"Al-Wefaq leaders condone terrorist groups which advocate violence as their mantra in words and acts," he said in a statement. He recalled that Al-Wefaq secretary general had said that "complementary revolutionary work is worth praising, appreciating and commending." Sheikh Khaled slammed Al-Wefaq leaders for "failing, once more, to condemn violence unequivocally, thus condoning terror, as usual, through the use of the false slogans in which they profess peacefulness and reform. Read More