MANAMA, 23 May 2004 — Bahrain’s king late Friday sacked the island state’s interior minister after a demonstration turned ugly when police fired tear gas and bullets into a peaceful crowd.
Mohammed ibn Khalifa Al-Khalifa, who had been interior minister since 1974, has been replaced with Defense Force Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Rashid ibn Abdullah ibn Ahmed Al-Khalifa following Friday’s clashes that left scores of people injured.
The dismissal came just hours after a peaceful protest against the US attack on Shiite holy sites in Najaf and Karbala turned violent. King Hamad also ordered an immediate investigation into Friday’s incident.
“What happened between the police and the demonstrators does not please us, and there is a need to look into what happened to determine responsibility in accordance with the law,” he said in a statement.
“The right to express anger about the oppression of our brothers in Palestine and Jerusalem and what is happening in the religious shrines and the prisons in Iraq is a legitimate right of all citizens. We share their feelings and we stand by them,” the king said.
“All relevant authorities have to uphold this right, and the security authorities have to endorse and protect it, unless there is danger to people and property and peaceful means are no longer valid,” he said.
Some 20 demonstrators and at least five policemen were hurt, including seven-year-old Sayed Sadiq Sayed Jafer and Manama Municipal Council member Jawad Firouz, who belongs to the Al Wifaq opposition group, when police attempted to turn marchers back.
Four Shiite clergymen had to be treated for tear-gas inhalation and three people including Abdullah Yousif Al-Aradi, 12, suffered broken bones.
Meanwhile, a small group of University of Bahrain students demonstrated yesterday outside the Isa Town Campus to demand an end to the Iraq occupation and express support for the Palestinians.
Police kept close watch on the hour-long rally but did not intervene.
