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Hamad I Mohammed / Reuters
A demonstrator sprays graffiti Saturday during a protest in the village of Diraz, west of Bahrain's capital.
Updated 3:25 a.m. ET Sunday: Clashes between anti-government protesters and police broke out in Bahrain Sunday just hours before Formula One Grand Prix drivers were due start their race, witnesses told AFP, the French news agency.
Police fired tear gas and stun grenades at Shiite protesters who responded by hurling rocks and fire bombs while chanting "Down with Hamad," in reference to Sunni King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, witnesses told AFP.
The king, who will attend Sunday's race, said in a statement overnight that he wanted "to make clear my personal commitment to reform and reconciliation in our great country. The door is always open for sincere dialogue amongst all our people.''
Demonstrators also called for the release of Shiite activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who began a hunger strike in early February and whose deteriorating health has raised fears he may die in prison.
In a Twitter message posted Sunday, Bahrain's interior ministry said Khawaja was in "good health" and would meet Denmark's ambassador today." Khawaja is a dual citizen of Bahrain and Denmark.
On Saturday, activist Salah Abbas Habib, 36, was found dead outside the capital, Manama. Habib's body was splayed on a corrugated iron rooftop, Reuters reported. Activists said he and other protesters had been beaten by police Friday night ahead of the auto race.
The auto race was canceled last year due to protests but Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa refused to be deterred this year as he unfurled a banner, "Unified: One Nation in Celebration." The government has spent $40 million to host the prestigious race, which has drawn 100,000 visitors.
The decision to hold the race despite ongoing protests made it the most controversial Grand Prix in the sport’s 60-year history.
NBC Sports: Formula One returns to divided Bahrain
Bahrain streets turned into a battle zone Saturday as masked protesters hurled gas bombs at police who fired back tear gas, Reuters reported. About 7,000 protesters took to the streets, carrying banners calling for democratic reforms. Some depicted Formula One race car drivers as police beating up protesters. Hundreds took refuge from the tear gas at a shopping mall.
Hamad I Mohammed / Reuters
Demonstrators crouch in a cloud of tear gas fired by police during a protest in Diraz, a village west of Manama, the capital of Bahrain. Police fired tear gas at protesters on the eve of a Formula One Grand Prix that demonstrators say glorifies a repressive government.
Officials at the racetrack said they weren’t concerned by the violence.
"I am not sure that all that has been reported corresponds to the reality of what is happening in this country," International Automobile Federation president Jean Todt told reporters at the Bahrain circuit.
Sports reporters were invited to cover the race, but non-sports reporters were denied visas.
Hunger strike
Anti-government protesters last year emulated other Arab Spring revolutions but were immediately quashed by the government. Activists in Bahrain, a small island off Saudi Arabia, didn’t stand much of a chance when Bahrain called in Saudi Arabian troops.
Bahrain, a financial hub and modest oil producer, is an important U.S. military ally and host to the Fifth Fleet, the U.S. Navy's main outpost in the region. U.S. officials have remained mostly mum on the protests here.
The country is the only one of the Gulf's Arab monarchies with a Shiite majority, and the only one that was seriously threatened by last year's Arab Spring, which swept away the long-serving rulers of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen.
Habib's death infuriated the Shiite community, who say they have been marginalized by the Sunni ruling family. Habib’s funeral will likely take place Sunday, the day of the big race, which sets the stage for more riots.
This article includes reporting by Reuters.
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Leave a Comment:
Never ending violent society ....
When the Grand Prix race is finishes ....
The Grand Prix group will be glad to race away from there ....
Bahrain proves the fake concern of the Western countries for human rights.
The west should stay out of Islam. They will solve their death worship doctine and its effect on their behavior or it will kill them. We can not save them from themselves.
Zach Jacoby
(prophecy)
there is no sexual revolution happening today. only nasty and mean spirited people who will get what they deserve every time.
they will not rule the world as americans like this. the world is changing, they will be challenged and broken in time. when they are weak today, they will be devoured tomorrow.
17 hours ago
Obviously, the morphine has dissolved most of your brain.
Ditto
I watched the Formula One race last night live, 2am in Hawaii. I saw the Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa as he congratulated the Lotus team, he had a big smile on his face! It was a great race, the best so for this season. As to the Shiites, if they don't like the way things are run in Bahrain they should jump back on their camels and beat feet back to Iran, a place known as a bastion of democracy. The Iranian Shiites want to wreck everything that isn't ruled by Iranian sharia law, they want to destroy anything that doesn't resemble their world view of an Islamic government. The Bahrain Armed Forces should round all of these idiots up and take them to the Iranian boarder then turn them lose, the ones that cross back into Iran are left alone. The ones that try to go back into Bahrain, well, whatever happens in the desert, stays in the desert!! Iranian Shiites trouble makers, problem solved!! The Iranians don't want democracy, far from it. They want to transform the whole world into an Islamic state run by their version of sharia law, what they can't transform they would destroy with nuclear weapons, of course after Israel. They truly believe any country not governed by sharia law is run by Satan, and because the USA is a great country, we are the Great Satan, and as to their world view, should be destroyed.
The Shiites have populated Bahrain, en mass, through illegal immigration, as the Hispanics have done to the United States. Bahrain, is a country relying on Banking for the Arab world as its main economy. Bahrain is very sophisticated. Do you think the Hispanics could operate Wall street any better than the Shiites could run Bahrain's enormous banking system. Avocado pickers and sheep herders, idiotically believe that they can do so and keep an advanced economy running. Everything will crash. The graduating classes from Harvard, Columbia, etc couldn't save it for lack of experience, contacts and methodology. Don't scream democracy just because it sounds like a way to bring down a successful country. Bahrain is probably the most generous of Nations sharing it's wealth with its citizens. Unlike the US they don't bribe the illegals to behave. (Six of one/half a dozen of another)
You know, at least Hispanics are your western cousins, and they do contribute greatly to the community.
Absolutely correct!
BTW: Msnbc: Why are we not allowed to comment on the Army cancelling the Nugent show. Are you afraid of the backlash and people arguing the First Amendment. Does the First Amendment only work for you? And what about the liberals and the unions who repeatedly collapse many perfectly legitimate comments, solely because they don't like the content. When was the last time one of them was restored. I saw one which was perfectly w/i the rules collapsed, although it had very much over 100 supports. (5 votes out of a 100 ++ will collapse) and you didn't restore it and in fact since it was the first in the string you wiped out the entire string. I sense severe favoritism.
BTW: I still haven't heard MSNBC report on Holder's embarrassing letter to the 5th Circuit trying to defend Obama's ridiculous statement that it's "unprecedented" for the SCOTUS to declare an Act of Congress unconstitutional. The Conservative media published the letter. Neither MSNBC nor NBC ever mentioned the letter, better yet published it. It was a critical document, very relevant to Obama's constitutional beliefs (it's a piece of paper worth ignoring) and the highly published Obamacare case pending before the SCOTUS. Why was that buried? Enough said!!
Actually, far too much said, none of it having anything to do with the article. Drunk again?
No!! Was not given any other place to put it.
Gil - Sorry Ted Nugent is an idiot who is spewing hate and making an a$$ of himself. The only reckless politicians to blame for the state of the economy today are that of the bush administration who let America go to hell in a hand basket for the 1%. Let him own all the guns he wants, if we are lucky he will shoot himself in the head while he is cleaning his AR15.
Better that Al-Khawaja kill himself via dehydration in his cell rather than strapping explosives to himself and doing it in a public place as so many of his fellow Shiites have done. But as long as he's dead, I can't really worry too much how he manages it. The only good terrorist is a dead terrorist.
Maxx: If you don't like the First Amendment go to Iran. "Love it or leave it". And what's the economy got to do with it. But since you want to talk briefly, I'll respond briefly: In 3 years Obama increased the deficit more than Bush did in 8 years. The man thinks he has a credit card w/ an infinite limit and doesn't hesitate to use it He expends taxpayer money to buy votes, with every give-a-way program he can think of. Everyone except the rich and the elderly are catered by Obama. He attacks the rich (they are only 1%) and ignores the elderly because they won't for him anyway.
obama is alot better than a republican presidentt that brings the country to its knees (2008 crush) sucking up to the rich in greed, just like the great depression, it took a democrat president to bring the country back on the right track. And to add to Obama successes, (will be re-elected) Obama hunted down and killed bin laden, something that a republican president failed miserably at
As a motorsport enthusiast I am disgusted and disappointed to find that the Formula 1 drivers are a group of young men with no guts at all. If they had any guts they would have refused to drive. I hope it hits them in the pocket in lost advertising contracts. It should, because many of their posters will have been pulled down in young fans bedrooms today.
Dr. Smith, Formula One is the only sport I follow, and have been since the 60's. At first I thought that it would be prudent to skip the race this year as F1 did last year. But then I realized that the protesters are not after democracy, they are Iranian Shiites, they don't care anything about establishing democracy in the Kingdom of Bahrain, they want to destroy it because it's run by Sunnis and that's the only reason they need to tear a country apart. I'm glad now F1 went to Bahrain for round 4, to hell with the Iranian Shiites and the camels they rode in on!!!
the conflict in Bahrain was started by arab spring, and that gifted inspiration movement is knocking dictators to the curb that are corrupted and will kill their own people like a dime a dozen, to continue the same path of restricting freedom of speech and the right to elect the leader of the "people" choice, instead of a dictator electing himself decade after decade will ruling with a iron fist to kill and/or imprison dissent
Let's not forget that at the end of the day, F1 is all about money, mostly the greedy bastard Bernie Ecelstone's money. Ever notice how many countries have spent hundreds of millions building F1 specific, state of the art race track venues, host a Grand Prix of a couple years, only to disappear from the schedule? Bernie sells GP calendar dates to the highest bidder. Even hookers working the street corner tend to have set prices for their services. I have no doubt that Bernie used the political unrest in Bahrain to his advantage, to get more money from the prince in exchange for not canceling the race. That's just the kind of POS Bernie is.
I can't help but wonder how many years the new F1 venue in Austin, TX will host a USGP, before Bernie screws the promoters/investors... it's only a matter of time.
I'm a Formula One fan who has a love/hate relationship with the sport... I look forward to the day that Bernie Ecelstone is gone. That will be a great day for F1.
Bernie wouldn't have a problem if the king wanted them to use Shiites as crash barriers, as long as he gets his cut.
Hey Mymom, I like that: The only good Shiite Muslim extremist is a crash barrier!!