Bahrain Protests: ABC News Correspondent Beaten / Riot police attack Bahrain protest camp; 2 dead

[Turborama]

Source: ABC

With unrest spreading across the Arab world from Tunisia to Egypt to Bahrain, ABC News Correspondent Miguel Marquez was beaten during a military crackdown in Bahrain's capital, Manama, Bahrain's capital.

He is the latest Western journalist to be attacked covering protests in the region. He said he was not badly injured, but he was hit with billy clubs while he yelled, "Journalist, journalist!" trying to show he was not a protester.

He was on the phone to ABC News in New York when it happened.

"There was a canister that looked like -- No! No! No!

Hey! I'm a journalist here! I'm going! I'm going! I'm going! I'm going! ... I'm hit," he said. "I just got beat rather badly by a gang of thugs. I'm now in a marketplace near our hotel where people are cowering in buildings." He paused. "I mean, these people are not screwing around. They're going to clear that square, tonight, ahead of any protest, on Friday. The government clearly does not want this to get any bigger."

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/bahrain-protests-abc-news-correspondent-miguel-marquez-beaten/story?id=12936124

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http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/abcs-miguel-marquez-beaten-bahrain-protests-revolts-government-police-journalist-attacked-violence-middle-east-12936174">Click here or on video in upper left of the main article to listen to Marquez's report.

Live reports coming in to AJE about the brutal military crackdown (including reports of at least 2 dead and hundreds wounded) here: http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

Live Blog - Bahrain:

17 February 2011

(All times are local in Bahrain, GMT+3)

4.53am Sources confirm to Al Jazeera that two people have died in the attack on protesters on Thursday morning. Scores more are injured and are being rushed to a hospital in the capital. A source at the hospital tells Al Jazeera that around 40 injured people have just arrived there.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2011/02/16/live-blog-bahrain

Riot police attack Bahrain protest camp; 2 dead

By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, Associated Press – 6 mins ago

MANAMA, Bahrain – The main opposition group in Bahrain says at least two people are dead after police stormed a square occupied by anti-government protesters.

The group, Al Wefaq, says two men were killed when riot police used tear gas and rubber bullets early Thursday to drive out thousands of demonstrators from Pearl Square in the center of the capital Manama.

Hospitals across the city are on alert for more causalities.

The square had been the hub for protests for sweeping political reforms by Bahrain's ruling monarchy.
There was no official word on deaths or injuries from Bahrain's authorities.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110217/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_bahrain_protests

[Dennis Donovan]

1. Recommend - AJE is reporting on it - sounds rather serious!

[Alamuti Lotus]

2. Riot police attack Bahrain protest camp; 2 dead

MANAMA, Bahrain – The main opposition group in Bahrain says at least two people are dead after police stormed a square occupied by anti-government protesters.

The group, Al Wefaq, says two men were killed when riot police used tear gas and rubber bullets early Thursday to drive out thousands of demonstrators from Pearl Square in the center of the capital Manama.

Hospitals across the city are on alert for more causalities.

The square had been the hub for protests for sweeping political reforms by Bahrain's ruling monarchy.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110217/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_bahrain_protests

[Turborama]

4. Thanks a lot, I've added it to the OP

:hi:

[Alamuti Lotus]

6. the note about '2 dead' was just added to AP's feed a few minutes ago

not a good development, except in the sense that it will encourage a more emboldened resistance to the goons of the wahhabi dictator. al-Wafeq was talking about 50,000 at the next protest, and that's really likely -- that's almost 1/10th of the country. Imagine 30,000,000 Americans doing something in unison--besides voting for American Idol, of course.

[Rhiannon12866]

3. How awful... K&R.

Thanks for keeping us up to speed on events in this part of the world. Wow. :( Rachel Maddow's reporting on this tonight, FYI. :hi:

[Turborama]

5. A girl on the phone just then said the riot police are surrounding the hospital! n/t

[Tx4obama]

7. For quick updates @BreakingNews is doing a pretty good job on Twitter too

http://twitter.com/BreakingNews

#

Main opposition group says 2 dead in Bahrain protest - AP 15 minutes ago via breakingnews.com

#

Audio recording posted of journalist being attacked in Bahrain - ABC News http://abcn.ws/fcVb5Y 22 minutes ago via breakingnews.com

#

Member of opposition says women and children among those attacked in Bahrain - Al Jazeera http://bit.ly/idC56M 25 minutes ago via breakingnews.com

#

Journalist Miguel Marquez beaten during military crackdown in Bahrain - ABC News 32 minutes ago via breakingnews.com

#

Police crackdown in Bahrain came without warning, secular party activist says - BBC http://bbc.in/g9w8YM 34 minutes ago via breakingnews.com

[Turborama]

9. Breaking News are really good. Just got this from AC360, looks like he'll be covering it...

@AC360
AC 360°
"Police move in to clear protesters from Bahrain's capital" - http://bit.ly/hs9Zdp
6 minutes ago

[Turborama]

22. I was wrong, he didn't cover it

Seems like Bahrain is a "no no" for American MSM right now.

I'd be glad if someone showed me otherwise, though.

[Turborama]

37. Kudos to Anderson Cooper. He's doing a good segment on Libya and Bahrain now. n/t

[Turborama]

8. Bahrian is the home of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, I wonder how Obama's admin will react to this news

Nervous U.S. Navy Eyes on Bahrain

Posted by MARK THOMPSON Tuesday, February 15, 2011 at 11:02 am
33 Comments • Related Topics: national security , 5th fleet, bahrain, navy


U.S. and Bahraini officials launch expansion of U.S. base last May / DoD photo


While the troubles in Egypt and Tunisia are important in Washington's geo-strategic calculations, they don't rank highly in its selfish concern over real estate. All that changes when it comes to the tiny Persian Gulf state of Bahrain, an island tucked between Saudi Arabia and Qatar on the gulf's western shore with fewer than 1 million residents. The home of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet -- and a recently-launched $580 million U.S. expansion effort slated to double the U.S. Navy's acreage there -- could be in jeopardy if Bahrain's monarchy falls.

Thousands of Shiites protested in the capital of Manama on Tuesday. They were angry over the death of a man, in a clash between police and mourners, at a funeral for a demonstrator shot at an earlier anti-government rally, Reuters reports. The killing, a day after a "Day of Rage" of protests on Monday, suggested more unrest between Bahrain's majority Shiite Muslims and the Sunni security forces backed by the ruling Sunni Al Khalifa dynasty.

The (Iran-friendly) Shiite majority, which accounts for almost 70% of the population, wants the (Saudi-friendly) king, Sheik Hamid bin Isa al-Khalifa, to rewrite the constitution to give Shiites more power and opportunity, while also seeking investigations into allegations of torture and corruption (sound familiar?).

The downside to all this unpleasantness is that Bahrain is the U.S.'s most important post in the Persian Gulf. It's ground zero when it comes to monitoring the oil flow -- nearly one gallon of every five used worldwide -- down the gulf and through the narrow Strait of Hormuz. It's also a key base from which to eyeball Iran on the other side of the gulf.

Read more: http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2011/02/15/nervous-u-s-navy-eyes-on-bahrain/

[Turborama]

10. 3rd protester now confirmed dead (on the CNN ticker at the bottom of the screen)

[suffragette]

11. Thank you for continuing to report on this news, Turbo

K&R

[Turborama]

12. You're welcome, suffragette

Thanks for the thanks and the K&R, much appreciated.

Love your username, BTW.

:hi:

[sabrina 1]

13. Five dead now, according to Al Jazeera

@AJELive
AJELive
@AJEnglish deaths from latest clashes have risen to five #Bahrain. Parademic says most patients at hospital have head injuries

They are also beating up ambulance drivers, Nick Kristoff from the NYT saw the injuries.

And now the government, according to him, has ordered the ambulances not to answer calls.

[sabrina 1]

14. This is bad:

@NickKristof
Nicholas Kristof
Many in #Bahrain outraged that the king used mercenaries--Pakistani, Indian, Syrian riot police--to attack Bahrainis.

Well, then, maybe the protesters need reinforcements from elsewhere also. The Globalists use multi-national mercenaries. We the people just have to catch up with them in order to defeat them.

[Turborama]

17. "the king used mercenaries--Pakistani, Indian, Syrian riot police--to attack Bahrainis"

This is getting even worse than I thought.

Will we hear anything from Obama or Clinton condemning this?

I seriously doubt it, for the reason I gave in post #8: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4736128&mesg_id=4736179

[pampango]

18. I've heard that Bahrain is predominantly Shiite but ruled by a Sunni monarchy that

recruits Sunnis from other countries to man its security forces. They have no reservations about using force on Bahraini Shiites. Never have and don't now.

[sabrina 1]

28. 'Will we hear anything from Obama or Clinton condemning this?

People on Twitter are asking the world to help. So far, the response from the U.S. is the same as it was re Egypt in the beginning 'both sides should behave themselves' etc. etc.

Nick Kristoff reporting that he is documenting the brutality. The Bahrain government accuses him of aiding and abetting criminals with weapons. They claim they have used restraint and are editing video to make it look like the protesters are violent.

@NickKristof
Nicholas Kristof
@eyade Yes, I'm documenting #Bahrain crackdown with video, photos, sound. I'm on the move to get these out before govt confiscates them.

Looks like he did succeed in getting video out.

[sabrina 1]

15. Looks like the Saudis are helping too:

@NickKristof
Nicholas Kristof
1 #Bahrain ambulance driver told me #Saudi army officer held gun to his head, said wld kill him if helped injured.

They are taking a lesson from Egypt and probably listening to Saudi Arabia, who advised Mubarak to 'crack down hard' on the protesters. Israel offered the same advice.

The U.S. advised him to allow the protests. He probably blames everything now on not squashing the revolution. So, Bahrain is more likely to listen to the Saudis.

[Turborama]

23. Thanks for the heads up on Kristoff, I'm following now. He interviewed protesters yesterday (Video)

Here: http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/02/16/opinion/1248069642504/protests-in-bahrain.html

[sabrina 1]

30. Thank you, he's doing really good work there. He hasn't

said anything for about 25 minutes and some of the government's supporters have been attacking him on his Twitter feed. He has given his location, at the hospital. I hope he doesn't get caught. These people seem to be pretty ruthless.

[Turborama]

31. That last tweet he sent out is very worrisome...

@NickKristof
Crowd at #Bahrain hospital is chanting "We'll stay until the regime falls." Helicopter overhead and rumors police will attack.
35 minutes ago

[sabrina 1]

32. Yes, and he hasn't posted anything since. I imagine he has

a crew with him though since he is video-taping everything. But, as you can see from some of the comments on his twitter page, government supporters are reading his tweets also and are probably aware of where he is.

[Turborama]

33. Have you seen these videos yet?

The night of the attack and the day after filmed secretly from above: http://www.youtube.com/ElliottsFather#g/u

There's also one in the videos forum which was filmed on the ground as the brutal assault on the sleeping protesters happened, very disturbing.

[sabrina 1]

34. No, I haven't. I will go watch them now.

I read a tweet last night that said the 'government is claiming their armed troops were assaulted by sleeping protesters and that is why they had to act as they did'.

Thanks for the link.

[Turborama]

35. For chronology, they need to be watched from the 1st "Lulu Roundabout protest in Bahrain" video up.

Also, here's the link to the one in the vids forum. Seems to have been largely ignored: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x554608

[sabrina 1]

36. Really disturbing reports from Nick Kristoff

@NickKristof
Nicholas Kristof
Just met Dr Sadiq Ekri, surgeon who was beaten by #Bahrain police as he tried to help injured. He is unconscious, on oxygen.

~~~~

@NickKristof
Nicholas Kristof
Dr. Ekri's family says that after the #Bahrain police beat him, they pulled off his pants to rape him. Then they abandoned him.

~~~~

@NickKristof
Nicholas Kristof
Dr Ekri was handcuffed the whole time.
14 minutes ago

He has corrected the rape claims:

@NickKristof
Nicholas Kristof
To clarify, police backed off before raping Dr Ekri. He was badly beaten but not raped.
35 minutes ago

Horrific brutality against unarmed people. Where are the condemnations from governments around the world? I hope the media covers this. Kudos to Nick Kristoff for his bravery and his documentation of what is happening, as the government's lies would prevail otherwise.

[sabrina 1]

16. This is going to be a brutal crackdown, it looks like.

@BBCWorld
BBC Global News
The BBC's Ian Pannell at Salmaniya Hospital in Manama, Bahrain, says he's seen: "rather graphic and gruesome pictures" of one of the dead.

Kristoff from the NYT says that there is no shortage of blood as donors have been pouring in to the hospitals. However, it doesn't look like they are allowing people to get treatment.

[EFerrari]

19. The pictures out of Bahrain are much, much worse

than anything I saw out of Egypt, too graphic to post at DU. The #Jan25 activists in Egypt are tweeting them with warnings. :(

[suffragette]

25. Damn. That's terrible.

[sabrina 1]

20. Egyptian revolutionary, Wael Ghonim,

is watching events in Bahrain and is devastated.

@Ghonim
Wael Ghonim
I can't believe what I just saw. my heart is bleeding. I pray for the people of #Bahrain. WARNING GRAPHIC PHOTO http://bit.ly/hMQUrL

Tragic! Now, Al Jazeera is reporting they are sending armored tanks to the square.

@AJEnglish
Al Jazeera English
Reports: Armoured vehicles can be seen heading towards #Bahrain Pearl Square. For the latest developments: http://aje.me/ajelive

[EFerrari]

21. The police seem to be murdering people.

NickKristof Nicholas Kristof
by waelabbas
Nurse told me she saw handcuffed prisoner beaten by police, then executed with gun.
1 hour ago

nolanjazeera Dan Nolan
by alaa
I wont RT again but any claims #Bahrain police response is measured shd check horrific pic posted earlier. Skull caved in = NOT measured ok
22 minutes ago

[sabrina 1]

27. Shooting into the crowds:

@sahoura
سحر
RT @ArabRevolution Police shooting at Bahraini Women Demonstrators

And it seems they are trying to make it look like the protesters are armed:

@BAHRAINIAC
Ali
Sources reveal that Bahrain TV videos are edited and weapons were planted so they can justify the deaths #bahrain #feb14...

~~~~

@Blackdogworld
Barbara Matthiessen
RT @INTLRevolver: @democracynow “People Bleeding in Streets” #Bahrain Police Wage Brutal Overnight Attack o… (cont) http://deck.ly/~scdHi

[Turborama]

24. Videos of the brutal assault

Posted in the videos forum: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x554608

[Uncle Joe]

26. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Turborama.

[sabrina 1]

29. 'As a reporter, some things just break your heart'

@NickKristof
Nicholas Kristof
As a reporter, some things just break your heart. Like watching the govt of moderate, tolerant #Bahrain kill its people.

~~~~

@emoodz
Mohammed AlMaskati
This regime is using its military against it's own people, does the world hear our cries? #bahrain #feb14 #lulu