Bahrain Detains Opposition Activists

Bahraini security forces detained at least six prominent opposition activists today, the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights tells the AP. According to the society, two of those taken were also among the 25 Shiite activists who were released earlier in a bid to ease tensions. Their arrests suggest authorities are now more interested in silencing the opposition than engaging it in dialogue.

Others detained include Shiite activists Abdul Wahad Hussein, Abdul Hadi-Mokhdar, and Hassan Hadad and Sunni liberal leader Ibrahim Sharif, who has joined the otherwise mostly Shiite opposition. And one senior opposition leader says he expects more arrests to come. "This is alarming and our priority is to stop the bleeding of the country," says Abdul Jalil Khalil. Authorities appear to have taken complete control of central Manama, with tanks and masked soldiers watching over the mostly empty streets. Security forces have also taken over the hospital, and are preventing physicians from leaving.

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