Rights group accuses Bahrain of using 'excessive force' on protesters

Amnesty International on Thursday accused Bahrain of using shotguns, tear gas and rubber bullets to subdue protesters, joining a growing chorus of concerns over the crackdown.
Security forces have used "excessive force," leading to the killing of eight people in recent violence, Amnesty said in a report released Thursday.

"It is alarming to see the Bahraini authorities now again resorting to the same tactics that they used against protesters in February, but on an even more intensive scale," said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Six prominent opposition leaders have been detained, said Khalil Al Marzooq, an official with the Wefaq opposition party.
Security forces in Bahrain stormed the main hospital, beating doctors, and attacked demonstrators in Manama's Pearl Roundabout on Wednesday, witnesses in the Bahraini capital said.Bahraini officials deny these accounts.
Tanks and troops remained at the hospital Thursday, CNN observed.
The protests started February 14 and are part of a series of demonstrations that have swept across the Arab world this year, toppling the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt.
In Bahrain, moderates have demanded a constitutional monarchy, and hard-liners have called for the abolition of the country's royal family altogether.
U.S. officials also issued concerned statements about the crackdown on protesters.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the intervention by Bahrain's neighbors "alarming" and urged all players in the region to keep "their own agenda" out of the struggle.
President Barack Obama called both the Saudi and Bahraini kings to express his "deep concern over violence" and the need for "maximum restraint," according to White House spokesman Jay Carney.
Bahrain is home to the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, the naval arm of American power in the region.
Authorities in Iran also weighed in on the issue.
Iran recalled its ambassador to Bahrain and accused the government of "killing of people of Bahrain," according to a statement.
Bahrain's Sunni Muslim monarchy has long suspected Iran of attempting to foment unrest among the island's majority-Shiite population, leaked U.S. diplomatic documents show, and Iran has asserted territorial claims over the onetime Persian province both before and after the 1979 revolution brought the current Islamic republic to power.