Bahraini protesters, police clash after man’s funeral
By the CNN Wire Staff -September 17, 2011

Manama, Bahrain (CNN) — Clashes between protesters and police extended into a second day in Bahrain on Saturday, following the burial of a man who died in questionable circumstances this week.

Tens of thousands marched chanting anti-regime slogans in the funeral procession of Seyyed Jawad Ahmed Hashim Marhoon in Sitra, southwest of the capital, Manama.

Shortly after the burial, scores of mourners clashed with police.

The Bahrain Ministry of Interior said it dealt with a group of vandals who blocked streets following the funeral march.

Clashes broke out late Thursday and early Friday, ahead of Marhoon’s funeral. Many of the same areas saw renewed clashes following the funeral.

Violence was reported in most Shiite villages across the small Gulf island, including some on the outskirts of Manama, where anti-riot police moved in.

Thick clouds of tear gas, rubber pellets and stones covered many of the streets as police clashed with angry protesters.

Parts of the capital also saw limited clashes, but the heaviest were in Sitra.

Marhoon died in a hospital after being admitted to the intensive care upon arrival.

Relatives say he developed difficulty in breathing after tear gas was fired at his father’s home on September 10, but the family fearing arrest and reprisal opted not to seek medical care until later.

In May, a report by Doctors Without Borders entitled “From hospitals to prisons” said medical staff in Bahrain had been unfairly targeted by government forces.

Injured protesters have been arrested at hospitals, according to the report.
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Youth groups have utilized social media to attract support for a number of demonstrations in the lead up to next week’s elections, including a protest at the Pearl Roundabout site in Manama that has become symbolic with Bahrain’s opposition movement.

Tensions Rise Ahead of Bahrain Elections
September 17, 2011
Phillip Walter Wellman – Manama, Bahrain

Tensions are mounting in Bahrain ahead of planned parliamentary elections next week, with opposition supporters vowing to hold a mass demonstration in the capital, Manama.

Next Saturday’s poll will fill 18 seats abandoned by the main opposition al-Wefaq party, who quit in February over the government’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators.

Mattar Mattar, one of the legislators who resigned, says the decision to replace all of the opposition parliamentarians is proof that the nation’s leaders are neglecting the grievances of the people. “They are trying to ignore us, but this plan will not succeed. They are going on the wrong track. Without opening a real dialogue and without going for real political reform it’s difficult to reach stability here,” he said.

Bahrain’s political opposition comprises, in large part, the nation’s majority Shi’ite Muslims, who say they are treated like second-class citizens by the ruling Sunni minority. They have been calling for more rights and for the introduction of a constitutional monarchy.

Some hardliners in the opposition have been demanding the abolition of the monarchy, and as unrest continues, their numbers are growing.

Clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters take place nearly every night in Shi’ite neighborhoods.

According to rights groups, about 40 people have been killed and more than a thousand detained since February. The government has defended the crackdown, saying it is needed to reinstate stability.

On Friday, tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades were used to disperse tens of thousands of mourners at a funeral in Sitra, south of Manama.
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