MANAMA, 30 April 2006 — Bahraini authorities evacuated a hotel and a number of buildings near it Friday night after a firebomb, later determined to be fake, was discovered in the hotel.

The device, which contained a timer and a liquid substance, was discovered by a security guard during a routine check.

Security officials, who evacuated the Bahrain Plaza Hotel and nearby residential buildings as a precautionary measure, later determined that the liquid substance in the device was water.

Bahrain had stepped up its security around key infrastructure and diplomatic buildings in the capital after a series of incidents on Wednesday.

An explosion Wednesday night was heard in the upscale Manama district of Al-Adliyah, near the headquarters of the Interior Ministry’s Criminal Investigation Directorate. The explosion caused no casualties or damage, authorities said.

A second bomb, which authorities called a crude, home-made device, was located and defused by police near the Phoenicia Hotel in the Hoora tourist district a couple of hours later.

The bomb attacks coincided with a Molotov cocktail attack on a police vehicle in Sitra, south of the capital, in which two policemen were slightly injured.

Bahrain has been hit by sporadic waves of low-intensity unrest since December. The clashes started at Bahrain International Airport after police arrested Ayatollah Sheikh Mohammed Sanad upon his arrival from Qom, Iran. The sheikh was released within hours.

More than 40 people were arrested in connection to the airport clashes and the protests that ensued to demand the release of the first 20 detainees.

Over the past few months a group of about some 30 masked young men had been involved in regular tire and refuse-burnings in the streets.

A committee set up by the detainees’ families to press for their release has denied any links to these masked youths and is holding the government responsible for the deterioration in the situation.

The newly established opposition Harakit Haq (Justice Movement), which is made up of conservative Shiite leaders, has accused the government of being responsible for the recent troubles.

The movement’s spokesman, Abdul Jalil Al-Singace, said that certain circles were trying to link the masked youths and the violence to Harakit Haq in an effort to discredit the organization.

Bahraini officials on the other hand had indirectly accused figures in the movement of incitement in an attempt to escalate tension.