The Hindu : International : Minister sacked over clashes in Bahrain

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 23, 2004

International

International

Minister sacked over clashes in Bahrain

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA, MAY 22 . The King of Bahrain has dismissed his Interior Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Khalifa, after police clashed with protesters on Friday. The dismissal came after police tried to prevent a Shia demonstration of around 5,000 people against the U.S. military action in Iraq.

Many of the demonstrators carried banners of the Shia religious leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and shouted "Death to America." The King, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, said he shared the anger of the protesters at what he called the U.S. aggression against holy shrines in Iraq — a reference to military action in Najaf. Twenty people were injured in the clash with the police in the Bahraini capital, Manama. "What happened between the police and the protesters did not please us," said the King, in a royal decree.

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