MANAMA – Riot police in Bahrain fired tear gas to disperse several hundred protesters who took to the streets yesterday to demand the government’s resignation after a report uncovered torture and other abuses against detainees.
The protesters marched for nearly 6km along a road running through Shia neighbourhoods in a northern district of the island kingdom. After the march, several hundred protesters gathered at a roundabout, prompting police to clear the crowds with clouds of tear gas.
Bahrain’s Shias, about 70 per cent of the nation’s 525,000 citizens, complain of widespread discrimination under the kingdom’s Sunni rulers. – (Reuters)