Forces fire tear gas to break up protest

Security forces had to fire tear gas to disperse a crowd of over 200 after Friday prayers in Sohar, witnesses said. \"It started with 20-30 young Omanis taking out a protest march after Friday prayers at the Shaikh Khalifa mosque, but they were blocked by the police near Tariff Roundabout, after that the numbers swelled,\" an activist told Gulf News on the condition of anonymity. He said protesters tried to convince the police that the march was peaceful, but they refused to relent. \"After a while as tension increased with protesters standing their ground, the police fired tear gas to disperse them,\" the activist said. Last Tuesday, the Misdemeanour Court of First Instance in Muscat sentenced seven protesters from Sohar to five years in jail and fined each of them 100 Omani riyals (Dh951). Article continues below An expatriate said most of the protesters looked very young. \"Those protesting today looked different from the past protests,\" he said, adding that in earlier protests middle aged men also took part but this time only youngsters were seen.