SILIANA: Tunisian security forces fired tear gas and live rounds into the air yesterday to try to disperse thousands of protesters in a town that has seen days of protests over economic problems in the North African state. National guard forces belonging to the Interior Ministry fired tear gas and rounds from inside armoured personnel carriers in the town of Siliana, southwest of Tunis on the edge of the Sahara desert. “Get out, get out!”, “With our blood and soul we sacrifice ourselves for you, Siliana” and “Siliana will be the graveyard of the Ennahda party” the protesters, who numbered about 3,000, chanted while throwing stones at security forces. Police chased protesters down streets in an apparent effort to arrest them. The Islamist Ennahda party that won Tunisia’s first post-Arab Spring election last year is struggling to revive the economy due to lower trade with the crisis-hit euro zone. Disputes also continue between secularists and hardline Salafi Islamists over the future direction of the country.
Bahrain police break up protests
DUBAI: Bahraini police fired tear gas and stun bombs to break up protests overnight in Shia-populated villages around Manama, leading to arrests and injuries, witnesses said yesterday. The protesters took to the streets in response to a call by the February 14 Youth Coalition for rallies against a blockage imposed on the Shia locality of Mahazza, near the capital, since November 7. “The blockade will not make us afraid” and “Down with Hamad,” chanted the protesters, in reference to H M King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa. The protesters, some of whom wore masks, waved the Bahraini flag and pictures of prisoners. Police responded by firing tear gas, sound bombs and buck shot, injuring some of the protesters, according to the witnesses who did not specify the number of casualties. People injured at anti-government demonstrations in Bahrain avoid going to hospital for fear of being arrested. In the latest clashes, police detained several demonstrators, and the skirmishes continued until dawn yesterday, according to the witnesses. Agencies
