BAHRAIN: Protest leaders jailed; “future is dark.”
American calls for Bahrain’s government to negotiate with protesters fell on deaf ears Thursday after the arrest of seven movement leaders in early-morning raids left it unclear who could speak for the opposition.
The leaders — some of whom had for weeks dominated a stage set up in Pearl Square, which protesters had occupied until security forces cleared it Wednesday — are now behind bars. The stage was leveled Thursday. And the vastly outgunned opposition appeared to have few viable options as evening curfews continued to quiet the capital.
“The future is dark,” said Matar Ebrahim Ali Matar, a member of the main opposition political society al-Wefaq who said he did not know what would become of the protest movements. He said he was not aware of any communication between opposition groups and the government since thousands of troops from Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states arrived Monday.
There were small scattered protests Thursday across the country, some of which were dispersed by police using tear gas and rubber bullets.
DJIBOUTI: U.S. election monitors booted.
Djibouti’s government has kicked out an American election monitoring group less than a month before the nation’s presidential election, a vote opposition politicians are boycotting because they say the president is repressing dissent.
Djibouti is a tiny East African nation that hosts the only U.S. military base in Africa. Situated on the Gulf of Aden between Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Yemen, the city-state is a major shipping hub in a volatile region. The country is nominally democratic, but events leading up to the April 8 presidential election appear to show a hardline approach by President Ismail Omar Guelleh at a time when democracy movements are upending administrations.
SAUDI ARABIA: King to offer government changes, food subsidies.
Saudi Arabia’s monarch will announce a government reshuffle, an anti-corruption drive and a promise to increase food subsidies to combat rising prices in his first address to his nation since unrest began sweeping the Arab world, diplomats said Thursday. King Abdullah’s speech is expected after midday Muslim prayers today.
The rare speech by the country’s ailing 86-year-old monarch comes after a several small demonstrations in the oil-rich kingdom. Though only dozens of people have participated, it appears the monarchy is worried the protests could escalate into more intense gatherings.
YEMEN: Tear gas, gunshots fired into air to break up clashes.
Yemeni security forces in the central city of Taiz fired tear gas and live ammunition into the air Thursday to break up clashes between protesters and plainclothes government supporters, witnesses said. More than 100 people were injured, most as a result of tear-gas exposure, according to local reports.
The clash began when government supporters tried to attack a march through the mountainous city, and protesters taking part in a sit-in calling for the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh came to the marchers’ defense.
Demonstrators have held sit-ins in at least three other major cities, including Sana, the capital, to demand that the president step down.
Denver Post wire services
