Associated Press
MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — More than 10,000 Shiites marched Thursday in this tiny Sunni-ruled Gulf country to protest newspaper articles deemed insulting to their top cleric.
The protesters were mostly supporters of the Shiite opposition Al-Wefaq parliamentary bloc, which holds 17 seats in the 40-member assembly. They marched along the highway just outside the capital of Manama, chanting slogans in support of Bahrain's top Shiite cleric, Sheik Isa Qassim. No violence was reported.
MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — More than 10,000 Shiites marched Thursday in this tiny Sunni-ruled Gulf country to protest newspaper articles deemed insulting to their top cleric.
The protesters were mostly supporters of the Shiite opposition Al-Wefaq parliamentary bloc, which holds 17 seats in the 40-member assembly. They marched along the highway just outside the capital of Manama, chanting slogans in support of Bahrain's top Shiite cleric, Sheik Isa Qassim. No violence was reported.
The two-hour protest was called to denounce articles that the Shiites claim insult their cleric and Shiite religious practices in general. They have been published over the past two weeks in the Al-Watan daily and hardliners opposed to Sunni-Shiite dialogue are thought to be behind them.
Bahrain, a pro-Western island nation with Sunni rulers and a Shiite majority, is a close Washington ally and hosts the base of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. Shiites account for about 70 percent of the oil-rich country's 450,000 citizens.
Economic disparities between the ruling elite and the poorer majority have contributed to feelings of marginalization among Shiites, who have waged an occasionally violent campaign against the government.
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