About 10,000 opposition protesters took to the streets of Bahrain on Friday to push their demands for political change two days before the Formula One Grand Prix that puts the Gulf Arab kingdom in the international spotlight. The atmosphere was largely peaceful as groups of men, women and children carrying Bahraini flags walked down a highway and converged at a rallying point, witnesses said.
But a handful of youths in Duraz village temporarily blocked a highway with burning tyres, sending black smoke into the air. Police cleared the tyres to allow traffic through. Wood, sticks and bricks blocked another street nearby, witnesses said. Anti-government protesters and security forces also clashed overnight, with the demonstrators setting tyres ablaze on roads and police firing tear gas and stun grenades, the BBC reported.
Opposition activist Ala'a Shehabi told Reuters she believed violence took place in about 10 to 15 Shia villages overnight but she could give no other details. Many in the Shia Muslim-majority state accuse the Sunni-led government of trying to use Sunday's race to paper over human rights abuses and disguise political problems they say still plague the country, a close US ally.
FOREIGN JOURNALISTS EXPELLED As Friday's protest rally took place, qualifying for the race was going on at the Sakhir desert circuit about 30 km (19 miles) south-west of the capital Manama. Justice Minister Khalid al-Khalifa said last week the event - which Bahrain pays an estimated $40 million a year to host - should not be politicised.
However, Bahrain's Information Affairs Authority said on Friday authorities were deporting three journalists working for a foreign news organisation, saying they had broken the rules governing their activities in the country. Britain's ITV News said the journalists were on assignment for it and had visas approved by the Bahraini authorities.