MANAMA: Bahrain released one of the Arab world’s best-known activists yesterday after he served a two-year jail sentence for his role in pro-democracy protests in the US-allied kingdom, his son said and his lawyer said.
Nabeel Rajab, founder of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, was found guilty in August 2012 of organising and participating in illegal protests to push for reforms in the Sunni Muslim-ruled kingdom.
“I have been told by his lawyers that my father has been released,” his son Adam Rajab said. He said his father was finishing paperwork for the release and would be home later yesterday.
Earlier yesterday protesters and police clashed at a funeral, the Interior Ministry said. It said protestors threw Molotov cocktails at police who responded with tear gas.
There were no details of any casualties at the ceremony, which was being held for a man who died from shotgun pellet wounds sustained during clashes with police two months earlier. He was the first person to be killed in such circumstances since February 2013.
Rajab rose to prominence after campaigning against a crackdown on demonstrations. Protesters cast him as a hero but other Bahrainis see him as a threat, fearing that protesters want to bring Shi’ite Islamists to power in the Gulf Arab state.
Tight security as Shias converge
on Baghdad
BAGHDAD: Throngs of Shias converged on a shrine in north Baghdad yesterday for annual commemoration rituals under heavy security after a string of deadly attacks in the Iraqi capital.
Much of the city was on lockdown for the climax of the rites to mark the death of a revered figure in Shia Islam, with Baghdad’s security forces looking to deter Sunni militant groups which often target Iraq’s majority community.
Several major roads were closed off and a wide variety of vehicles barred from the streets, as security forces also relied on aerial cover and sniffer dogs.
Organisers say millions of pilgrims are expected to visit the shrine in the Kadhimiyah neighbourhood of north Baghdad today, when the commemoration rituals are to climax.
Agencies
