More than 1,000 Saudi troops have entered Bahrain where anti-regime protests have raged for a month, a Saudi official said yesterday, as demonstrators took over Manama’s central business district.
Pro-democracy protesters poured into the banking hub, witnesses said, as Saudi forces appeared poised to help the embattled government restore order in the strategic Persian Gulf kingdom, home to the US 5th Fleet.
The Saudi troops entered Shiite-majority Bahrain on Sunday as part of the Persian Gulf countries’ joint Peninsula Shield Force, the Saudi official said, requesting anonymity.
Photo: AFP
The intervention came “after -repeated calls by the [Bahraini] government for dialogue, which went unanswered” by the opposition, he said.
The Bahraini government has not confirmed the presence of Saudi troops in the archipelago, which has been ruled by a Sunni dynasty for more than 200 years.
However, the Web site of Bahrain’s Alyam newspaper, which is close to the al-Khalifa royal family, said forces from the six-state Gulf Cooperation Council were expected to enter Bahrain to help boost security.
Helicopters buzzed over the Financial Harbor business complex, which was blocked off by protesters, a day after more than 200 people were injured there in clashes between riot police and demonstrators, residents said.
Sunday was the worst day of violence in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom since seven people were killed at the start of anti-regime unrest a month ago.
Bahrain — which is joined to Saudi Arabia by a causeway across the Persian Gulf — has become a regional financial hub as it seeks to diversify its economy away from dependence on diminishing oil revenues. However, to many of the country’s disenfranchised Shiites the banking district is a symbol of corruption, wealth and privilege.
Police appeared to have deserted the area, while shopping malls and office towers were closed, witnesses said. Protesters continued to hold a sit-in at Pearl Square just outside the financial district, while others were blocking roads leading to the business district.
The Shiite-led opposition alliance said any foreign force would be treated as an invading army.
“We consider the arrival of any soldier, or military vehicle, into Bahraini territory ... an overt occupation of the kingdom of Bahrain and a conspiracy against the unarmed people of Bahrain,” an opposition statement said.
Bahraini Crown Prince Salman late on Sunday reiterated the government’s offer of national dialogue on deep-rooted reforms, but not at the expense of security and stability, state news agency BNA reported.
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