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Bahrain authorities detain protesters, rights group reports

Bahrain authorities are holding a total of 39 people picked up in police raids over the last three days following a week of anti-government demonstrations, a local human rights group reported on Sunday.

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights produced a list of 39 people arrested by police since Thursday, including three picked up in raids in the early hours of the morning on Sunday.

Abdul-Jalil Khalil, a parliamentarian with the Shiite opposition Wefaq bloc, said four people were taken from their houses by police on Sunday in Sanabis, a village on the outskirts of the capital Manama that was under siege the day before. Khalil said security forces relaxed the siege on Sunday.

The reformist daily al-Wasat on Sunday printed the list of people the Bahrain Center for Human Rights said had been arrested, but it was unclear whether any of the four reported by Khalil were included.

While most of Bahrain's newspaper reported the string of protests, demonstrations and arrests over the past week, al-Wasat by far gave the most detailed coverage, showing photos of doors smashed in by police raiding parties and pictures of detainees, including one man who was allegedly stabbed while being arrested.

A spokesman for the Interior Ministry on Sunday rejected claims that security forces used excessive force during their raids, saying "all arrests were made in accordance with the law and after gaining permits from the general prosecutor."

Al-Wasat also published a report of security forces attacking a mosque south of the capital on Friday with rubber bullets, including a photo allegedly showing some of the bullets inside the building's prayer area.

Commenting on the alleged attack, the Interior Ministry spokesman said "we reject such allegation and we respect the holiness of religious places, while those who chant political slogans inside mosques don't."

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

Protests erupted following the death of a Bahraini citizen, Ali Jassem, on Monday after he inhaled tear gas at a demonstration commemorating the social unrest of the 1990s.

Various demonstrations were held at his funeral and then at memorial services which resulted in severe clashes with security services and the burning of a police car.

A heavy police presence continued on Sunday in the streets of the island kingdom, especially around the northern Shiite villages where many of the protests have originated.
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