Bahrain attempts to crush protest movement
Top story: A late night police crackdown in Bahrain shattered a peaceful protest that had been gathering in the center of the capital, leaving at least five people and left hundreds more wounded. Bahraini security services used concussion grenades and tear gas to scatter the demonstrations, and reportedly shot sleeping protesters with shotgun rounds.
The Bahraini regime, which is ruled by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, at first appeared to accommodate the protesters. Tens of thousands of people gathered peacefully in Pearl Square in the capital of Manama, where they set up tents and pressed their demand for the establishment of a constitutional democracy.
By establishing a permanent presence in Pearl Square, the protesters were consciously emulating the protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square that successfully toppled Hosni Mubarak's regime. But riot police encircled the square close to 3 a.m., and destroyed the makeshift tent camp.
Bahrain serves as the base for the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, and is home to 2,300 American military personnel. The U.S. military has said that it is not yet taking any extra security precautions at the base, which is not close to the protests.
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-David KennerJOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images
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