Bahrain Detains Opposition Activists

Security forces take control of central Manama
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 17, 2011 7:06 AM CDT
Bahrain Protests: Government Detains Six Opposition Leaders
Bahraini security troops raid the one-month-old pro-democracy sit-in at Pearl Square in the capital Manama on March 16, 2011.   (Getty Images/AFP)

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.

For more on the situation in Bahrain, click here. (More Bahrain stories.)

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