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Arabia
Bahrain says arrests two over planned car bombings
2010-09-17
[Dawn] Bahrain has jugged two people who the Gulf Arab nation said had planned a series of car bombings to go off during festivities to mark the end of Ramadan.

Bahrain, home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet and a regional offshore banking centre, has seen an increase in violence in recent weeks ahead of parliamentary elections on October 23.

The authorities in August jugged more than 20 Shia opposition leaders in a broad crackdown, accusing them of plotting to overthrow the government by instigating unrest.

On Wednesday Bahrain's Ministry of Interior said two people from a Shia village had prepared explosive devices to detonate ten cars in different areas of Bahrain.

The pair were jugged on Sept 8. Car bombings would be an escalation of the violence beyond the night-time clashes between young Shia protesters and security forces, which are frequent in Bahrain.

The country is headed by a Mohammedan Sunni ruling family and its majority Shia population complains of discrimination in jobs and services, an accusation the government denies.
"It's not that we're discriminating, it's just that Shias aren't as smart or as hard-working as Sunnis. They can't help it, poor things -- it's the Sunni burden to rule over them."
The opposition leaders and muscle jugged were mostly members of the mainly Shia Haq movement, that disputes the legitimacy of the country's democratisation process launched in the early 2000s to quell the violent unrest of the 1990s.
"We'll show them what hard work is. Yar!"
The Ministry of Interior said in its statement the two persons jugged had received funding from Hassan al-Musheimea, the leader of Haq.

Diplomats and analysts have said the arrests are an effort to press the opposition to calm down protests before parliamentary polls in October.

Western human rights groups have voiced concern and urged Bahrain to investigate allegations by some opposition muscle that they have been tortured in detention.
Posted by:Fred

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