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| Arabia |
| Oman breaks up new protests over wages, jobs; eight hurt |
| 2011-04-02 |
| [Arab News] Hundreds of Omani protesters seeking jobs and better wages clashed with security forces in the industrial town of Sohar on Friday, hurling rocks as the military fired in the air to try to disperse them. The festivities, which witnesses said police brought to a halt with water cannon, came three days after a crackdown on protesters to try to clear a main Sohar roundabout where around 100 people had been camped out for weeks. Activists told Rooters security forces used tear gas and beat some protesters with batons. Two protesters said at least one person died but hospital sources said no one had been killed. Two of the eight people brought in for injuries were at death's door, they said. Protests sweeping the region have not spared conservative and usually tranquil Oman, at the southeast end of the Arabian Peninsula. Sultan Qaboos bin Said offered a pay rise to try to coax Omanis off the streets, but protesters and workers have continued to stage sit-ins, including at two oil refineries two weeks ago. Oman protests have centered on demands for better wages, jobs and an end to corruption in the autocratic state. Many have added to their demands that the government be held accountable for the detention of hundreds of protesters in Sohar. Oman's public prosecutor last week said that a number of "saboteurs" were tossed in the calaboose in Sohar Sultan Qaboos, in power for 40 years, also vowed in March to cede some legislative powers to the partially elected Oman Council, which currently acts as an advisory body. At present, only the sultan and his cabinet can legislate and a transfer of powers has yet to be announced. One witness told Rooters that military personnel fired in the air on Friday only when they failed to peacefully disperse the crowd after demonstrators left prayers and went to gather at the roundabout the army had cleared on Tuesday. "It was all going peacefully with the military keeping a close eye," one witness told Rooters. "But a section of the protesters started to throw stones and other objects at the army. Then they responded by firing in the air. Many bravely ran away but a small crowd remained and continued to protest." Activists from Sohar told Rooters security forces had harrassed protesters from the very beginning of the sit-in and that they began throwing rocks when they heard live fire. |
| Posted by:Fred |