MANAMA – Gulf states were sending troops into the troubled island state of Bahrain on Monday in a move Shia opponents of the Sunni Muslim rulers of the Gulf kingdom said would be a declaration of war. Bahrain, which lies off the coast of Saudi Arabia, called in forces from its Sunni neighbours to put down unrest by its Shia Muslim majority after protesters overwhelmed police and blocked roads in a resurgence of mass protests seen last month. Nabeel al-Hamer, a former information minister and adviser to the royal court, said on his Twitter feed these troops were already on the island, a key U.S. ally and headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
Analysts and diplomats say the largest contingent in any Gulf Cooperation Council force would likely come from Saudi Arabia, already worried an uprising by Bahrain’s Shias would embolden restive Shias in its own Eastern Province, the centre of the oil industry. “Forces from the Gulf Cooperation Council have arrived in Bahrain to maintain order and security,” al-Hamer said. Saudi officials declined comment. Reporters saw no immediate movement of Saudi forces across the 25-km (16-mile) causeway between the two countries. Bahraini opposition groups including the largest Shi’ite Muslim party Wefaq said any intervention by Gulf Arab forces on the island was a declaration of war and an occupation.
They also said, however, that they had met the crown prince to discuss a mechanism for national dialogue to end the unrest. Gulf Daily News, a newspaper close to Bahrain’s powerful prime minister, reported on Monday that forces from the GCC – a six-member regional bloc comprising Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman in addition to Bahrain – would protect strategic facilities. The GCC forces would help maintain law and order, it said in a front page report. “Their mission will be limited to protecting vital facilities, such as oil, electricity and water installations, and financial and banking facilities.”
Saudi-owned news network Al Arabiya also quoted an official source saying Bahrain would be supported by forces from the GCC, a military, economic and political alliance. The reports come after Bahraini police clashed on Sunday with mostly Shi’ite demonstrators in one of the most violent confrontations since troops killed seven protesters last month. After trying to push back demonstrators for several hours, police backed away and youths built barricades across the highway to the main financial district of the Gulf banking hub.
Those barricades were still up Monday morning, with protesters checking cars at the entrance to the Pearl roundabout, the focal point of weeks of protests. On the other side of the same highway, police set up a roadblock preventing any cars moving from the airport towards the financial harbour. Police were out in force in some areas but there was no evidence of soldiers, Bahraini or otherwise in Manama. Bahrain has been gripped by its worst unrest since the 1990s after protesters took to the streets last month, inspired by uprisings that toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia.
