Manama: Bahraini security forces firing tear
gas and rubber bullets clashed today with hundreds of
anti-government protesters near the former epicentre of the
Gulf kingdom's uprising.
Opposition supporters who had gathered in Shiite villages
around the capital Manama for a religious procession to mark
the holy days of Ashoura marched on Manama's Pearl Square, a
heavily guarded intersection that was the heart of the Shiite
majority's campaign for greater rights from Sunni rulers.
The square carries great symbolic value, and security
forces violently prevented the protesters from reaching the
square today.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Bahrain has seen sporadic protests since the government,
backed by neighbouring Saudi Arabia, forcefully put down the
uprising in this strategically important Gulf nation earlier
this year.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, December 08, 2011, 13:45