Bahrain arrests four Shi'ite activists as poll nears

15 Aug 2010 17:03:05 GMT
Source: Reuters
* Clashes erupted following arrest of first activist

* The four face security charges, state news agency says

(Adds official statement, paragraph 7)

MANAMA, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Bahraini authorities have detained four Shi'ite activists before a parliamentary poll in which Shi'ites will be seeking a bigger role in governing the Sunni Muslim-led Arab state, their lawyer said on Sunday.

The arrests could heighten tensions with Bahrain's Shi'ite majority before the Oct. 23 election, the U.S.-allied Gulf island state's third since its king launched a political reform process a decade ago to help quell Shi'ite protests.

Clashes erupted in at least two Shi'ite villages on Saturday night following the Friday arrest of the first of the activists, said Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights.

"Three more were arrested this morning," lawyer Mohammed al-Tajer told Reuters.

Tajer said the head of human rights at the mainly Shi'ite Haq movement, Abduljalil Singace, was detained on Friday on his return from London where he gave a lecture on human rights in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.

Bahrain, where the Sunni al-Khalifa family rules over an often disgruntled Shi'ite majority, regularly sees night-time clashes between security forces and protesters in Shi'ite towns.

The state news agency BNA said the four were accused of belonging to a network threatening "Bahrain's stability, civil peace and endangering the lives and property of the innocent (through) incitement to violence and terrorist acts".

On Sunday following the protests, Abdulghani al-Kanjar, who heads a committee of Bahrain human rights groups to support victims of torture, was detained along with Shi'ite cleric and activist Mohammed al-Magdad.

A third activist, Saeed al-Nouri, was also arrested.

Two of the detained men, Singace and Magdad, were among three activists held for several months in 2009 on charges of plotting to overthrow the government. They were later pardoned by the king after weeks of protests and human rights criticism.

The Oct. 23 elections were not expected to meet Shi'ite opposition demands for more political participation. Many Shi'ites complain of discrimination in jobs and services, an accusation Manama denies.

Bahrain's largest Shi'ite opposition bloc, Al Wefaq, plans to participate in the poll where it will field candidates for up to 24 of 40 slots. It currently holds 17 seats it won in 2006.

Bahrain's parliament is the only one in the Gulf Arab region besides the Kuwaiti assembly, but its powers are limited as its bills need to be approved by an upper house whose members are appointed by the king. (Reporting by Frederik Richter; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Ralph Boulton)