Bahrain activists arrested

At least five people were killed – two policemen and three protesters – in the assault on the encampment in Pearl Square, according to opposition groups and the government.

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights said those taken into custody in the pre-dawn raids include Hassan Mushaima and Abdul Jalil al-Sangaece – who were among 25 Shiite activists on trial on charges of trying to overthrow the nation’s Sunni rulers.

The case was dropped in a bid to calm tensions after political unrest began last month, but the latest sweeps suggest authorities have abandoned efforts at dialogue and are trying to silence opposition leaders.

Bahrain has imposed a three-month emergency rule that gives the military wide powers to battle the pro-democracy uprising that began in mid-February in the strategic nation, which hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.

Increasingly, however, the struggle appears to be framed along sectarian lines: the Sunni monarchy and its backers using everything at their disposal to retain power, and Shiites hoping their overwhelming population advantage will be their most potent weapon to disrupt the country and bring the leadership to its knees.

Sunni authorities in the region also see Bahrain as an important stand against possible expansion of influence by Shiite power Iran – which recalled its ambassador to Manama after protesting the arrival of a Saudi-led force to help Bahrain’s embattled monarchy.

The Youth Society group said the others detained include Shiite activists Abdul Wahad Hussein and Hassan Hadad and Sunni liberal leader Ibrahim Sharif, who had joined with Bahrain’s majority Shiites to demand the Sunni monarchy loosen its grip on power.

“I saw men in black pointing a machine gun at my husband saying just one thing: ’We are from the state security,”’ said Sahrif’s wife Farida Guhlam.

About 1,500 troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are in Bahrain as part of a Gulf task force to help the Sunni rulers. The move, however, has brought sharp criticism from close ally Washington.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the introduction of Gulf forces was “the wrong track.”

It was a rare hint of agreement with Iran, which has called the Saudi-led reinforcements in Bahrain “unacceptable.” Iran’s state-run Press TV reported that the country’s ambassador, Mahdi Aghajafari, was called back to Tehran.

In mostly Shiite southern Iraq, more than 3,000 demonstrators marched in the holy city of Karbala in the second consecutive day of rallies against the outside forces in Bahrain.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said he fears that military units sent to Bahrain will inflame sectarian violence in the Middle East.

Bahrain’s authorities have imposed a 4 pm. to 4 am curfew and restricted movement around the country – limiting efforts by journalists to conduct firsthand reporting.

Tanks and armoured personnel carriers outfitted with machine guns watched over strategic intersections. Soldiers, wearing black ski masks and helmets, manned checkpoints and searched cars. Agents in civilian clothes patrolled wearing green vests and masks.

The remnants of the protesters’ barricades – barrels, plywood and rubbish bins - were strewn over some streets. Nearly all stores were closed and traffic was light. Very few people were walking the streets in the centre of the capital.

Doctors at the country’s main hospital said the facility was controlled by security forces, blocking physicians from leaving. The Salmaniya hospital complex has become a political hotspot. The mostly Shiite personnel are seen by authorities as possible protest sympathisers. The staff claim they must treat all who need care.

There have been moments of open anger. As overwhelmed teams treated the injured, many broke out in calls to topple the monarchy.

“We are under siege,” said Nihad el-Shirawi, an intensive care doctor who said she had been working for 48 hours. “We cannot leave, and those on-call cannot come in.”

Officials in the hospital said they took in 107 injured from Wednesday’s violence. Nine were in critical condition, officials in the hospital said.

The Salmaniya hospital also treated 322 people injured in clashes across the kingdom on Tuesday, the official said.

The government also is offering hints of a growing propaganda campaign. A statement said forces conducted an operation to “cleanse” Pearl Square and later state TV called the demonstrators “saboteurs” and “outlaws.”

Several international bank branches and other businesses in Bahrain remained shut.

Bahrain’s stock exchange reopened. It was up 1.3 % by midday.

Bahrain’s national carrier Gulf Air has cancelled all flights to and from Iran and Iraq. Both countries, like Bahrain, have Shiite majorities. Flights to Iraq are scheduled to resume Friday, and those to Iran on Monday.