Bahrain arrests 29 pro-democracy protesters

Bahrain arrested 29 pro-democracy protesters in the commercial district of the capital Manama on Friday as the protesters marched in the city center in defiance of a government ban, state media said late on Friday. The demonstration was organized by an opposition group called February 14, said Jasim Husain, one of the leaders of the main opposition group, Wefaq, Reuters reported. It came two weeks after protesters and police clashed in the city center for the first time since last year, following months of demonstrations in other parts of Manama and elsewhere in the country. “Rioters hurled petrol bombs, iron rods and stones, endangering both the police and civilians in the area,” the government Information Affairs Authority said in an emailed statement. The government has taken a no-tolerance approach to protests in the city centre, saying unrest in “vital commercial areas” could damage the economy. The statement added that police “used only the necessary force to restore order”, that the 29 people arrested would be referred to the public prosecutor. It said there would be an investigation to identify others involved in the protest. “People should have the right to stage rallies in the capital. A rally on a Friday afternoon is not a big deal. It will not undermine the economy,” said Husain. In Bahrain, the weekend falls on a Friday. The United States urged Bahrain this week to accelerate democratic change and hold talks with the opposition after a meeting in Geneva where Bahrain's Foreign Minister Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa pledged “unprecedented reforms”. Since mid-February 2011, thousands of anti-government protesters have been staging regular demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa royal family to relinquish power. On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates invaded the country to assist the Bahraini government in its crackdown on the peaceful protesters. According to local sources, scores of people have been killed and hundreds arrested in the crackdown. Physicians for Human Rights says doctors and nurses have been detained, tortured, or disappeared because they have "evidence of atrocities committed by the authorities, security forces, and riot police" in the crackdown on anti-government protesters..