Peninsula Shield Force: Gulf troops move in as Bahrain protests escalate

Saudi govt says it is answering a request for support; Pakistani killed by protestors.

MANAMA:

Armoured troops rolled into Bahrain from neighbouring Saudi Arabia on Monday to help restore order in the strategic Gulf kingdom, where pro-democracy demonstrators have shut down the financial centre.

Thousands of protesters occupied Manama’s business district, turning the regional banking hub into a ghost town as they pressed their calls for democratic reform by the monarchy.

The Saudi government said it had responded to a call for help from its neighbour as Saudi-led forces from the Gulf countries’ joint Peninsula Shield Force crossed the causeway separating the two countries.

“The council of ministers has confirmed that it has answered a request by Bahrain for support,” the Saudi government said in a statement carried by the SPA state news agency.

It said that under an agreement of the six-country Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), “any harm done to the security of a member state is considered a harm done to the security of all members.”

The Saudi contingent is made up of 1,000 soldiers while the United Arab Emirates also confirmed it was participating in the operation.

The United Arab Emirates has sent around 500 police officers into Bahrain to calm protests, Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan said on Monday. “Other Gulf countries will also participate to get calm and order in Bahrain,” Sheikh Abdullah told a news briefing ahead of a Group of Eight foreign ministers meeting in Paris. “Bahrain has asked us to look at ways to defuse the tension.”

Television footage showed convoys of unmarked, desert-brown coloured armoured vehicles crossing the causeway from Saudi’s Eastern Province into Bahrain, the home of the US Fifth Fleet.

The Shia-led opposition alliance said any foreign force would be treated as an invading army.

“We consider the arrival of any soldier, or military vehicle, into Bahraini territory... an overt occupation of the kingdom of Bahrain and a conspiracy against the unarmed people of Bahrain,” said an opposition statement.

Helicopters buzzed overhead as protesters blocked access roads to the Financial Harbour business complex, a day after more than 200 people were injured there in clashes between riot police and demonstrators.

Sunday was the worst day of violence in the tiny Gulf kingdom since seven people were killed at the start of anti-regime unrest a month ago.

Police appeared to have deserted the area, while shopping malls and office towers were closed.

Protesters persisted with a sit-in at nearby Pearl Square, where activists were readying for a showdown with the security forces.

Most workers seemed to be following a trade union call for a general strike to protest against violence by the security forces.

Meanwhile, the US warned Gulf states on Monday to respect the rights of the people of Bahrain, after troops from nations including Saudi Arabia crossed into the violence-wracked kingdom.

National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said that the White House was aware that Saudi Arabia had sent security forces to Bahrain and that other Gulf Cooperation Council nations were also planning such steps.

“We urge our GCC partners to show restraint and respect the rights of the people of Bahrain, and to act in a way that supports dialogue instead of undermining it,” Vietor said.

The Saudi intervention comes two days after US Defence Secretary Robert Gates visited Manama and urged King Hamad to undertake rapid and significant democratic reform, not just “baby steps.”

Gates told reporters after the talks that Washington was concerned that the longer the instability dragged on the more likely Iran was to try to meddle in Bahrain’s affairs.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2011.