Bahrain tears down protest symbol - Middle East. Authorities in Bahrain have torn down the statue at the centre of Pearl roundabout in the capital, Manama, where pro-democracy protests were held for weeks.
The concrete statue of six dhow sails holding up a pearl was demolished using drills and diggers on Friday. The move came as security forces launched a crackdown on the protest camp, with thousands defying a ban on public gatherings to mourn the death of a protester during the recent violence. Bahrain has arrested seven opposition leaders after weeks of protests that saw martial law being declared and troops from Saudi Arabia entering the tiny kingdom. Weeks of protests – sometimes in violent clashes with security forces – by the Shia majority slid into sectarian violence and crippled the economy. On Friday Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa, Bahrain's foreign minister, said the demolition of the statue was an effort to erase "bad memories". Limited role "We look with all confidence to the return of normal life in Bahrain," he said. UN warns Bahrain over crackdown - Middle East. The United Nations has warned Bahrain that its violent crackdown on anti-government protesters might be breaking international law.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, called King Hamad of the Gulf state on Thursday to express his "deepest concern" about Bahrain''s use of force, which allegedly includes security forces preventing doctors from treating injured protesters. The secretary-general, who called during a visit to Guatemala, "expressed his deepest concern over reports of excessive and indiscriminate use of force by the security forces and police in Bahrain against unarmed civilians, including, allegedly, against medical personnel," a UN statement said. He also "noted that such actions could be in breach of international humanitarian and human rights law". Valerie Amos, the UN''s deputy secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, earlier urged security forces "to refrain from excessive use of force, and to respect medical facilities and ensure the treatment of wounded persons".
Footage shows crackdown in Bahrain - Middle East. Riot police in Bahrain have used tear gas and rubber bullets in an attempt to force a group of hundreds of anti-government protesters from blocking the capital's financial district.
A large number of officers reportedly fired "dozens" of tear gas canisters in an attempt to clear the area in front of the Bahrain Financial Harbour on Sunday, but protesters refused to fall back. Footage of the scene on the video-sharing website Youtube showed one protester apparently being shot with a teargas canister at close range. A number of people injured in the crackdown were taken away in ambulances. Demonstrators have been camped out in front of the Financial Harbour site for more than a week, and on Sunday had threatened to form a human chain to block access to the facility. Riot police also encircled demonstrators at Pearl Roundabout, the focal point of protests in Bahrain for nearly a month, firing tear gas canisters, according to witnesses. Call for dialogue Police injured. Bahrain protests reach US embassy - Middle East. Dozens of Shia Muslim political activists in Bahrain have gathered outside the US embassy, one of several scenes of protest in the Gulf state, calling on Washington to press for political reforms.
Activists gathered at a fence set up in front of the embassy on Monday, chanting slogans in English and Arabic against the monarchy of Hamad bin Issa Al-Khalifa. Opposition supporters claim that the US is showing less support for the movements in Bahrain than it did for the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt that ousted those countries' presidents. The AFP news agency reported that a US embassy political officer, Ludovic Hood, brought a box of doughnuts for the demonstrators as they gathered down the street from the embassy in the run-up to the rally. "These sweets are a good gesture, but we hope it is translated into practical actions," Mohammed Hassan, who wore the white turban of a cleric, told Hood. "We want America not to get involved, we can overthrow this regime," she said.