In Bahrain, Shiites Turn Out in Great Numbers to Protest

The protesters, mostly members of the Shiite majority, marched along the eastbound side of Sheikh Khalifa Bin Salman Highway in a wide, unbroken column of red and white, the country’s colors. Men of all ages walked with women and children waving flags and calling for an end to the authoritarian government of King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa.

In a nation of only a half a million citizens, the sheer size of the gathering was astonishing. The protest, organized by the Shiite opposition parties, began in the central Bahrain Mall, two miles from the square and seemed to fill the entire length of the highway between the two points.

Security forces were nowhere to be seen along the demonstration route. The Ministry of the Interior, which has been regularly providing updates on the situation in the capital via its Twitter feed, issued a terse acknowledgment of the protest: “Sheikh Khalifa Bin Salman towards Manama is now closed.”

The protesters streaming into the square on Tuesday joined thousands of others — among them teachers, lawyers and engineers — who have camped out in order to occupy the area after the military pulled out following a deadly crackdown last week. The new arrivals were likely to overflow into the area surrounding the square.

With the army removed, and the police withdrawn under intense pressure from the United States, the Shiite opposition has acted as if it were in a position of strength.

Since the fall earlier this month of President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, the Sunni royal family in Bahrain has struggled to hold back a rising popular revolt against their absolute rule.

Bahrain is a close ally of the United States in the region, and the Navy’s Fifth Fleet is based here, helping ensure the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz and the gulf and safeguarding American interests.

Washington’s posture toward the Shiite majority, which is spearheading the opposition, could prove crucial to future relations with this small but strategically valuable nation.

Over the years, the American military, the advisers and the human rights advocate said, believed that King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa and his court were reform-minded leaders who could advance democracy and preserve stability. That narrative contrasts sharply with the experience of the Shiites, as documented by human rights groups and some of the military’s own advisers.

In Bahrain, as in Egypt and Tunisia, the United States finds itself again torn by its desire to preserve relations with autocratic leaders who back American foreign policy interests and by the danger of further alienating Arab public opinion by failing to promote democracy. At the moment, feelings toward the United States are neutral, and in some circles even positive, but they could slip toward hostile, opposition advocates said.

Michael Slackman reported from Manama and J. David Goodman from New York.

via nytimes.com