MANAMA, 17 December 2005 — A group of about 20 protesters clashed with police late Thursday night in the northern village of Duraz, hurling Molotov cocktails and stones at them.
The protesters were demanding justice for those killed and injured during unrest in the mid-1990s and expressed support for the demands of the unemployed.
At least one of them suffered serious burns, after a kerosene tank exploded as he tried to set it on fire. The fire then spread to a nearby house, forcing the elderly occupants to evacuate.
Police used tear gas to keep the protesters at bay with the standoff lasting for two hours. Eyewitnesses described the protesters as hooligans and drug pushers.
The protest, the second in two weeks in the area, is considered a direct challenge to leading Shiite scholar and Ulema Islamic Council chairman, Isa Qasim, as it was held in one of his strongholds.
Earlier this month Bahrain was hit by four nights of unrest with protesters burning police and private cars and setting off gas-cylinder explosions during clashes.
