AL JAZEERA LIVE BLOG : BAHRAIN 18FEB11

AL JAZEERA English is running a live blog on Bahrain, here are today's entries, get the full blog with video from 16FEB11 by clicking in the link on this blog...

By Al Jazeera Staff in

Middle East

From our headquarters in Doha, we keep you updated with reports from our staff across the country and further afield. 
AJE Live Stream - Bahrain protests continue overnight - Country profile: Bahrain
Live blog: Feb16 - Feb17 - Feb18
(All times are local in Bahrain, GMT+3)
February 18, 2011
11:09pm A photo gallery from the second funeral that we attended today - for 22-year-old engineering student Ali Ahmed Al-Muamin.

10:55pm More footage of the shooting by the Bahraini army - watch this video to the end! Protester: "They had machine guns, not riffles or hand weapons, machine guns  and they shot people who ran away."

10:31pm Hospital sources tell CNN that three people are killed and a fourth person has serious head injuries after the shooting by the security forces.
10:15pm Reuters: Bahrain king asks crown prince to start a national dialogue “with all parties” [official statement]

9:55pm Ali Ibrahim, deputy chief of medical staff at Salmaniya hospital, says 66 have been admitted suffering wounds from the raid at Pearl Roundabout in the capital. Four are in a critical condition. The injuries are worse than those seen on Thursday, he says.
9:50pm An injured man is treated at the Salmaniya Central hospital in Manama after security forces shot at protesters near Pearl Roundabout, wounding at least 23 people, a former Shia lawmaker said.
9:21pm An injured man in Manama after security forces shot at protesters near Pearl Roundabout, wounding at least 23 people:

8:39pm US President Barack Obama is "deeply concerned" by reports of violence from Bahrain, Libya and Yemen and urged those government to show restraint in dealing with protesters, White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
8:31pm According to a Wafaq party statement, tomorrow's re-taking of Pearl Roundabout protest has been postponed until Tuesday at the request of victims’ families.

Midday protests had been called via SMS + BBM to leave from Bahrain Mall/Geant, Sanabis, Na'im, Al-Daih - and then march from those locales to Lulu, now renamed by the pro-reform protesters as "Martyrs' Roundabout".

8:25pm Security forces in countries including Libya and Bahrain have used illegal and excessive force in response to the legitimate demands of their people, the top UN human rights official charged. Navi Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, also condemned the killings of protesters in Algeria, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Libya and Yemen. "The Middle East and North Africa region is boiling with anger," Pillay declared in a statement.

8:21pm From one of our online producers in Bahrain:
Hours before the shooting in Manama on Friday, Abdul Amir led the funeral procession toward a cemetery, chanting anti-government slogans and celebrating the life of the deceased, Ali Ahmed Al-Muamin.
8:17pm Al Jazeera's correspondent at Manama's Salmaniya hospital reports that wounded people are still arriving at the hospital.
8:05pm State TV airs a recorded interview with the crown prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa of Bahrain about the unrest in the country. The crown prince asked for everyone to stay at home and avoid demonstrations even if they are peaceful because it's not safe outside.

I express my condolences to all Bahrainis because of the painful days that we are living. I would like to address them with a message: a message of a citizen, a message for men to be calm. We need time to evaluate what happened and to regroup together again and to restore our humanity, culture and future.

7:55pm An Al Jazeera producer in Manama reports on the shooting:

Our sources say people were participating in a solidarity protest for the doctors and nurses who helped on February 17. They decided to walk to Pearl Roundabout, with the idea of giving police and army flowers, as a gesture of goodwill.
They didn't even make it, army opened fire about 500 metres away. Witnesses said they were aiming at head and chest. Salmaniya hospital is now calling for blood donations.
The Pearl Roundabout right now is full of riot police.

7:45pm More footage of the shooting in Manama. The authenticity of these images could not be verified by Al Jazeera:

7:34pm Protesters run for shelter after Bahraini security forces opened fire at protesters marching towards the Pearl Roundabout in Manama. Bahraini security forces shot at protesters and wounded at least 23, a former Shia lawmaker said. [Photo Reuters]

7: 24pm The latest footage of the shooting in Manama: The authenticity of these images could not be verified by Al Jazeera.

7:02pm A number of people have reportedly been killed in Bahrain as shots were fired at pro-reform protesters.

6:50pm Dr. Ghassan from the Salmaniya hospital made a plea for help on Al Jazeera: 

6:45pm Bahrain's crown prince promises to start a national dialogue once calm is restored, as witnesses say police has opened fire on demonstrators in Manama, wounding a number of them.
6:39pm Bahraini troops shot at protesters near Pearl Roundabout and wounded several, Jalal Firooz, a former Shia lawmaker says. Firooz, of the Wefaq bloc that resigned from parliament on Thursday, said demonstrators had been elsewhere in the city, marking the death of a protester killed earlier this week when riot police had fired tear gas at them.
The demonstrators then made for Pearl Roundabout, where army troops who took it over after the police raid on Thursday, opened fire, he said. Police had no immediate comment.

6:22 pm A doctor of Salmaniya hospital tells Al Jazeera that the hospital is full of severely injured people after the latest shootings.

We need help! Our staff is entirely overwhelmed. They are shooting at people's heads. Not at the legs. People are having their brains blown out!

6:17pm Hadeel Al-Shalchi [@hadeelalsh] of Associated Press Tweets:

Protesters reached the #lulu square, sat down and army shot into them again #bahrain

6:13 pm People are tweeting that blood is needed at Salmaniya hospital:

Please if you can announce in AJE and AJA .. Blood needed in Al Salmanya Hospital. BTV won't announce it .. Please if you could.

6:09pm An Associated Press cameraman says he saw army units shooting anti-craft weapons above the protesters in apparent warning shots and attempts to drive them back from security cordons about 200 metres from the Pearl Roundabout.

6:07pm Our correspondent in Bahrain says numerous reports are coming in that live fire is being used to shoot at protesters.

These were not the birdshots that were used to disperse protesters on Thursday, but live bullets. We are hearing it was not the police who is shooting. It is the army. 

5:55pm More shots being heard in the area of Pearl Roundabout. No immediate word on casualties.

5:52pm New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof just tweeted this:

Panicked crowds running thru hospital after police attack. Drs rushing to ER. Tear gas grenades outside, wafting in.

5:45pm Security forces have fired tear gas on thousands of pro-reform marchers in Manama after angry calls to topple the Gulf nation's monarchy. Some demonstrators are moving in the direction of Pearl Square, a day after riot police swept into the area to destroy an Egypt-style protest encampment.  

5:35pm State TV is showing images of a pro-government rally. Hundreds have taken to the streets of in a show of support for the country's ruling monarchy.

5:26pm Barcelona's Catalunya Circuit is ready to serve as a substitute venue for Formula One's final test session of the season if Bahrain is unable to host due to anti-government unrest.
Circuit director Salvador Servia says the track would be available to hold the March 3-6 event after the Formula One Teams Association asked about a potential switch.
5:21pm  Al jazeera's correspondent receives reports of another large protest that is being planned in about 24 hours’ time.

Political leaders are trying to gather people for that rally.

3:16pm Al Jazeera online producer says that several thousand people attended the funeral of Mahmood Makki Abu Takki before Friday prayers in Sitra, and the crowd grew after the prayers with at least 25,000 attending the funeral of  Ahmed Ali Muamin.
Reports of big gathering for third day of mourning for person buried on Wednesday to be held in the Al-Daih area. Down-town area of Manama still under lockdown.
3:00pm Emotions were high as thousands gathered to bury those killed in yesterday's pre-dawn raid.
2:37pm Interview with Mona Ali, a 25-year old Bahraini, at a funeral for protesters killed yesterday.
2:08pm Pro-government rallies being held in Bahrain's capital, despite ban on such gathering by police. Al Jazeera reporter says that strong police presence in other areas of city, with helicopters patrolling overhead.
12:27pm Friday prayers are over and strong police presence on some streets. Here is a picture that was uploaded on Twitter that shows tanks in the streets.

11:09am The funerals are taking place before the Friday prayers. Al Jazeera's reporter in Bahrain says that people taking part in the funeral processions fear for their lives.

10:56am A picture from the funeral in Manama's Sitra neighbourhood.

10:07am Thousands now gathering at grave yard for the funeral ahead of Friday prayers.
9:58am Funeral for some of those killed yesterday is now underway. People are very sad, but also very angry.
8:35am No sign of security forces in area where funerals are to be held. Hundreds have gathered and the funeral procession is preparing to start.
8:23am The funerals of four people killed in Thursday's pre-dawn raid in Manama are expected to be held today and could well serve as a rallying point for protesters.
5.14am The UK's Guardian Newspaper reported on Thursday that the British government has launched a review of arms exports to Bahrain, after reports that Bahrain security forces used UK-supplied weapons in the attacks on pro-reform demonstrators in the capital.
The Guardian reported:

Despite long-running concerns among activists over Bahrain's human rights record, British firms were last year granted licences, unopposed, to export an arsenal of sometimes deadly crowd control weapons.

Read the whole article here.

2.50am Britain said on Thursday that it was reviewing decisions to export arms to Bahrain after anti-government demonstrators were killed in clashes with security forces.

"In light of events we are today formally reviewing recent licencing decisions for exports to Bahrain," said Alistair Burt, a junior foreign minister with responsibility for the Middle East.

He warned that Britain would "urgently revoke licences if we judge that they are no longer in line with the criteria" used for the export of weapons.
Read more about this and other Bahrain updates on our website.

1.53am An Al Jazeera Online producer in Bahrain sent in the following images from Manama:
Click here to view the gallery in full-screen.
1.00am There was a marked difference in the happenings in and around Pearl roundabout on day one and day three of the protests.
These two videos, posted on YouTube, show a calm and jubillant atmosphere on February 15, but a nastier picture on February 17, when police attacked demonstrators with tear gas and rubber bullets:
February 15 - Video posted by johnsmithbahrain
February 17 - Video posted by thetruthisnowchannel
12.45am New York Times columnist Nicolas Kristof, based in Manama, wrote:

As a reporter, you sometimes become numbed to sadness. But it is just plain heartbreaking to be in modern, moderate Bahrain today and watch as a critical American ally uses tanks, troops, guns and clubs to crush a peaceful democracy movement and then lie about it.

This kind of brutal repression is normally confined to remote and backward nations, but this is Bahrain!  An international banking center. An important American naval base, home of the Fifth Fleet. A wealthy and well-educated nation with a large middle class and cosmopolitan values.

Read the full piece on the New York Times website.