Manama, May 22: Shi'ite Muslims took to the streets in three Middle Eastern capitals on Friday in sometimes violent protests against the US military presence in Iraq's Shi'ite shrine cities, witnesses said. Angry Bahrainis clashed with security forces in the capital Manama and set a police car on fire after police fired tear gas to disperse thousands of mainly Shi'ite demonstrators demanding that More than 20 people were hurt in the clash. In Tehran, protesters hurled petrol bombs and stones at the British embassy for the third time in less than a week to denounce the presence of Western forces in Iraq. Tens of thousands of Lebanese Shi'ites in white shrouds marched in a Beirut suburb in a collective show of willingness to die in defense of holy shrines in US-occupied Iraq.
US-led forces have been battling followers of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in and around Najaf and Kerbala. Bureau Report