Tear gas fired at Bahraini protesters

Manama has joined Cairo in Wednesday's protests as opposition groups in the Bahraini capital staged a rare march into the city centre Security forces were reported to be firing tear gas and stun grenades at protesters, while police set up checkpoints and shops closed after the Wednesday unrest. A government statement also said at least 41 policemen were injured in clashes with demonstrators that took place elsewhere on Tuesday. Several Bahraini anti-government protesters were injured Tuesday in attacks by the Manama regime forces on demonstrations against the ruling Al Khalifa family. Local sources said the demonstrations were held mainly in the village of Ma'ameer, about 15 kilometers (9.5 miles) south of the capital Manama, and the village of Dair, located on the northern coast of the Muharraq Island. Though clashes are recorded almost daily in the island kingdom, most are in areas outside Manama’s main business districts. Bahrain’s majority Shiites began protests nearly a year ago to seek greater rights from the ruling Sunni monarchy. An investigation commissioned by the monarch found damning evidence of human rights abuses inflicted on protestors who were brutally cracked down on during the protests, in which more than 50 people were killed. The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), chaired by Egyptian lawyer Cherif Bassiouni, documented numerous human rights abuses and systematic torture of detainees by security forces as they put down anti-government protests last February and March. The BICI also examined the cases of hundreds of employees who were sacked for allegedly supporting the protests. Most of those affected were Shia Muslims. The country's monarch King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa recently announced constitutional reforms intended to lead to greater accountability, ordered the rebuilding of mosques knocked down by the government, and appointed two distinguished British lawyers to overhaul Bahrain's judicial system. The government also said it was reinstating people who lost their jobs for supporting the protests. Bahrain hosts the US Fifth Fleet, and is among in the Persian Gulf countries such as Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that receive military equipment from the United States. On Tuesday, the US State Department announced that the US embassy employees were being relocated in Bahrain because the Manama regime “maintains official checkpoints in some areas and routinely uses tear gas, stun grenades, and other crowd control measures against demonstrators.”