Bahrain Protests: Clashes Break Out In Manama
\nBy BRIAN MURPHY – 5 October – Huffington Post<\/p>\n
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates \u2014 Riot police in Bahrain used water cannons and tear gas on Friday to disperse hundreds of anti-government protesters trying to reach a heavily guarded site that was once the hub of their uprising.<\/p>\n
The demonstrators marched toward Pearl Square in Bahrain’s capital, Manama, after a funeral procession for a protester who died in custody. The government said the man died of a blood disease.<\/p>\n
An Associated Press photographer said the demonstrators hurled firebombs and rocks at troops about 700 meters (yards) from Pearl Square, where crowds gathered in February 2011 as the Arab Spring-inspired uprising erupted in the Gulf nation.<\/p>\n
Bahrain’s majority Shiites seek greater rights in the Sunni-ruled kingdom, which is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. At least 50 people have died in nearly 20 months of unrest.<\/p>\n
Dozens of opposition leaders have been jailed, including human rights activist Nabeel Rajab whose family said he began a hunger strike Friday.<\/p>\n
Rajab was temporarily freed from prison this week to attend his mother’s funeral, but the furlough was cut short after he delivered a speech urging for protests to continue.<\/p>\n