Pearl roundabout Live Blog

10 weeks 6 days ago - Bahrain

Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters flooded a major highway in Bahrain on Friday in one of the largest opposition rallies in months against the Gulf nation's rulers.

Security forces fired tear gas at smaller groups attempting to reach a heavily guarded square that was once the hub of the uprising.

The march was called as a show of resolve by a Shia-led rebellion against Bahrain's Sunni monarchy more than a year after the Arab Spring-inspired protests began.

The main procession was mostly peaceful, but breakaway groups were driven back by tear gas as they headed toward Pearl Square, which was the center of the uprising for weeks last year until it was
stormed by security forces.

Tags Bahrain Shia activists, Manama, Pearl roundabout, security forces

10 weeks 6 days ago - Bahrain

Hundreds of Bahraini security and National Guard forces were deployed today in the streets that surround what was known as Lualua (Pearl) roundabout in the capital Manama, in preparation for a march called for by the Bahraini opposition to be organised there.

Opposition sources said the interior ministry granted a license to organise a demonstration, but it warned of an attempt to approach the site, which was known as Pearl.

Tags Bahraini security and national guard forces, Pearl roundabout

13 weeks 6 days ago - Bahrain

Bahraini police detained two Western activists who had joined a women's protest on Friday, after clashing overnight with protesters in Shia districts of the Gulf Arab state.

The two women activists - one American, one British, according to protesters - were detained by riot police who broke up the protest with teargas and stun grenades, after an announcement on a police loudspeaker that the demonstration was illegal.

Riot police have maintained a heavier presence than usual in areas populated by majority Shia this week to prevent mass protests on the anniversary of the February 14 pro-democracy uprising last year which was put down by force.

"These women are protesting peacefully," shouted a woman identified by protesters as US activist Medea Benjamin, wearing a T-shirt that read "Unarmed civilian", as she was dragged away by women police.

A Bahraini woman choking from teargas was also dragged away. Protesters identified the second detained foreign activist as Briton Elaine Martha.

- Reuters

Tags February 14, Manama, Pearl roundabout, protest, violence

14 weeks 2 days ago - Bahrain

We haven't heard of any large-scale protests in Bahrain today - just a few small groups trying to reach Pearl Roundabout, and ongoing clashes in various villages around the country.

As we said earlier, this seems to be in keeping with the government's strategy of keeping protests "bottled up" inside the villages. The interior ministry has tried to present these protests as isolated incidents - small groups "blocking roads" and "creating disturbances" in villages - rather than any kind of organised movement.

Tags Pearl roundabout, protests

14 weeks 2 days ago - Bahrain

This is from Mazen Mahdi, a Bahraini photojournalist:

MazenMahdiMore then 20 people arrested - foriegn activists fired upon near #Lulu with tear-gas including @NABEELRAJAB as well journalists #BahrainTue Feb 14 13:56:27 2012

Tags Mazen Mahdi, Pearl roundabout

14 weeks 2 days ago - Bahrain

A small group of protesters and journalists, including Nabeel Rajab, the head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, was making its way towards Pearl Roundabout when it was attacked by police, according to Andrew Hammond, a Reuters journalist walking with them:

Hammonda1Police just fired volley of teargas rounds directly at nabeelrajab and protesters and press, passing cars, everyone fled into cars #bahrainTue Feb 14 13:01:15 2012

Tags Nabeel Rajab, Pearl roundabout

14 weeks 2 days ago - Bahrain

This video was posted on YouTube a little while ago; it shows a long convoy of what appear to be Humvees - military vehicles, not the jeeps ordinarily used by the Bahraini police - traveling near Pearl Roundabout.

(Al Jazeera is one of many international news organisations denied entry to Bahrain this week, so we have to rely on photos and videos posted online by people inside the country.)

Tags Pearl roundabout, protests

14 weeks 2 days ago - Bahrain

Small groups of protesters - a few dozen at a time - tried to reach Pearl Roundabout this morning, and were attacked by riot police wielding tear gas and shotguns. "Many" people were arrested, according to Al Wefaq, the largest opposition political society in Bahrain.

Tags Pearl roundabout, protests

14 weeks 2 days ago - Bahrain

It's been one year since anti-government protests started in Bahrain. Nearly 2,000 mainly Shia Muslim workers in both the private and public sector lost their jobs as punishment for their perceived participation in the protests.

Unions say they have not got their jobs back, despite repeated promises from the government.

Human rights groups and activists say more than 60 people have been killed, including four policemen, since the crackdown began on Shia-led protesters.

Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford reports.

Tags Feb14, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa King of Bahrain, Pearl roundabout, Shia protests

14 weeks 3 days ago - Bahrain

A few more details on today's rally: It started as a "licensed" (government-approved) march along Budaiya Highway, a major road which runs west of the capital.

But a large group of demonstrators - perhaps as many as 10,000, according to a witness on the ground - broke away and started marching back towards Pearl Roundabout in Manama. They were tear-gassed heavily, and many of them fled.

Said Yousif al-Muhafdah, an activist with the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, tweeted this photo of protesters running from tear gas:

Tags Bahrain, Pearl roundabout, protests