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| Sectarian clashes erupt in Bahrain Posted: 03 Mar 2011 07:00 PM PST HAMAD TOWN, Bahrain,Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims clashed in a town in Bahrain yesterday, the first direct confrontation between the two sides since large-scale protests erupted in the kingdom's main city two weeks ago. Residents said a group of Shi'ites fought with a group of Sunnis and what they said were Bahrainis of Syrian extraction. "There were about a hundred people involved," one resident said. Police helicopters circled overhead and two ambulances rushed from the scene. Youth with sticks and batons were also leaving the area. The protesters camped out in the capital want political reform and better access to government jobs for the country's Shi'ite majority, which has long complained of second-class status and discrimination. The government denies this. The clash came on the same day that Bahraini opposition groups said they were now ready to enter into talks with the government without pre-conditions, but have sent a letter to the crown prince saying they want a new government and constitution. A Sunni royal family rules the country of 1.2 million, half of whom are native Bahrainis, and a majority of those Shi'ite. The protests in the capital Manama have been largely free of violence after police withdrew following an initial crackdown that killed seven. The crowds, which also include some Sunnis, have been careful to avoid sectarian tones and instead stuck to calls for national freedom and unity. Residents in Hamad said fighting died down when police forces arrived. Later there was a standoff between riot police and groups of Shi'ites who rushed to the area from other parts of Bahrain. "One man fell down and a large group came and beat him," one witness said. "There's still groups with sticks everywhere but fighting has largely stopped." — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Shi’ites stage protests in Saudi oil province Posted: 03 Mar 2011 06:50 PM PST Protesters hold a banner with the faces of prisoners during a demonstration in the Gulf coast town of Awwamiya, March 3, 2011. — Reuters pic Demonstrations of about 100 people were seen in the small Gulf coast town of Awwamiya, as well as in the nearby Shi'ite centre of Qatif, demanding the release of those whom the protesters say were arrested for security reasons and held, in some cases, for more than a decade. "We want the prisoners free but we also have other demands," said Radi al-Suwaileh, who was in the Qatif march. "We want equality." They are calling for better access to jobs and to be treated as equals in the ultra-conservative kingdom dominated by a rigid form of Sunni Islam, Wahhabism. Shi'ites say that while their situation has improved under reforms launched by King Abdullah, they still face restrictions in getting senior government jobs. The government of Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy without an elected parliament that usually does not tolerate public dissent, denies these charges. "We want jobs," said one young man who gave his name as Muhammad. "I graduated from a US university but did not get a job for 10 months." Saudi Arabia's Shi'ite minority mostly live in the east, which holds much of the oil wealth of the world's top crude exporter and is near Bahrain, scene of protests by majority Shi'ites against their Sunni rulers. More than two million Shi'ites are thought to live in the area, and in recent years they have increasingly practised their own religious rites thanks to the King's reforms. No threat to system "We want freedom, we want equality," one woman chanted. Another clad in black, who called herself Umm Turki, said she wanted her husband, in prison for 13 years, back. "Peaceful, peaceful," demonstrators in Awwamiya shouted, holding up pictures of Shi'ites they say have been long held without trial, while policemen stood nearby without interfering. One held a placard saying: "We do not plan to overthrow the system." In Qatif, a 10-minute drive away, riot police wearing helmets arrived in two troop transport vehicles, blocking protesters from moving further on a main thoroughfare. Some wielded signs saying: "The reform movement wants reforms", "God is great", and "We want our prisoners free". Last month, Saudi authorities released three prisoners after a previous protest by Shi'ites in Awwamiya. Last week, King Abdullah returned to Riyadh after a three-month absence in the US for medical treatment, and unveiled US$37 billion (RM112 billion) in benefits to help lower- and middle-income people among the 18 million Saudi nationals. It includes pay rises to offset inflation, unemployment benefits and affordable family housing. The demonstrations in and near Qatif were much smaller than protests staged in 2009 after police launched a search for firebrand Shi'ite preacher Nimr al-Nimr, who had suggested in a sermon that Shi'ites could one day seek a separate state. The secessionist threat, which analysts say was unprecedented since the 1979 Iranian revolution, provoked anti-government protests, and was followed by clashes between the Sunni religious police and Shi'ite pilgrims near the tomb of Prophet Mohammad in the holy city of Medina. Since then, Shi'ites say the situation has calmed down but they are still waiting for promised reforms to be implemented. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
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