Published: March 14 2011 18:48 | Last updated: March 14 2011 18:48
The fresh scars on Sayed al-Wadaei, a young Bahraini electronics engineer, are evidence of the al-Khalifa family’s determination to hold on to power in the tiny Gulf kingdom.
Four people were killed when Bahrain’s riot police raided sleeping protesters at the Pearl roundabout encampment in the early hours of February 17 using teargas, rubber bullets, birdshot and truncheons. Sayed was beaten to a bloody pulp.
The extent and durability of Bahrain’s mainly Shia-led protest movement – which overran security forces in a pitched battle on Sunday – has shocked the Khalifa family, leading to an unprecedented request for help from neighbouring states.
However, the arrival of more than 1,000 Saudi Arabian troops, armoured personnel carriers and light armoured vehicles on Monday does not intimidate Sayed or the thousands of young Shia protesters who have, like him, already tasted a dose of Gulf repression.
“I don’t hate anyone, I just want my freedom,” he says. “There is no going back now. We must either get our freedom, or die trying.”
Given the resilience and increasing assertiveness of the protesters, it was perhaps inevitable that Saudi Arabia would eventually intervene, admittedly under the aegis of the Gulf Co-operation Council alliance.
Riyadh has always taken a particular interest in its tiny neighbour, which serves as an important offshore banking hub and relatively liberal island for entertainment-starved Saudis.
While the Pearl roundabout, with the Pearl monument at its centre, has become the symbolic heart of the youthful protest movement, the intersection also resonates with the Gulf’s rulers as a landmark that commemorates the unity of the six GCC states.
The GCC was initially set up in 1981 as an anti-Iranian alliance by rulers that fretted over Ayatollah Khomeini’s fiery pan-Islamic rhetoric and aspirations for regional hegemony.
Though it has primarily evolved into an economic bloc, anti-Shia sentiment is common throughout the region, and has been exacerbated by Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons programme and the ascendancy of Shia in Iraq since 2003.
Despite the arrival of Saudi troops, the Pearl roundabout protesters remain determined to sustain their campaign to oust the royal family.
“Even if 10,000 of us die, no problem. I’m ready to be the first,” says Jaffer Dawood to vigorous nods from nearby protesters. “We are just so fed up, that’s why we are ready to die.”
The Saudi troops’ remit remains unclear. Akhbar al-Khaleej, a pro-government Bahraini newspaper, reported that their “mission will be limited to protecting vital facilities, such as oil, electricity and water installations, and financial and banking facilities”.
This could indicate that the Bahraini government will refrain from clearing the main Pearl roundabout camp, which would lead to bloody clashes. However, conflict is likely with protesters who have erected a secondary camp outside the Bahrain Financial Harbour and closed off a swathe of the central business district with makeshift checkpoints and barricades.
The arrival of foreign troops could also radicalise more protesters. Demonstrations have overwhelmingly been peaceful, but some youths have started to arm themselves with sticks and metal rods.
This is to defend themselves against pro-government gangs who roam some neighbourhoods, they say, but some observers fear that a heavy-handed Saudi crackdown could spark a more violent insurrection.
“We have been peaceful, but after being attacked so much it is difficult,” says Salman Rahma, a protesters at the Pearl roundabout.
Four people were killed when Bahrain’s riot police raided sleeping protesters at the Pearl roundabout encampment in the early hours of February 17 using teargas, rubber bullets, birdshot and truncheons. Sayed was beaten to a bloody pulp.
“My body reached a point where I didn’t feel pain anymore, so I pretended to be dead,” he says. Once the riot police moved on he managed to escape to a nearby hospital, where he required 18 stitches for two deep gouges in his head.
However, the arrival of more than 1,000 Saudi Arabian troops, armoured personnel carriers and light armoured vehicles on Monday does not intimidate Sayed or the thousands of young Shia protesters who have, like him, already tasted a dose of Gulf repression.
“I don’t hate anyone, I just want my freedom,” he says. “There is no going back now. We must either get our freedom, or die trying.”
Given the resilience and increasing assertiveness of the protesters, it was perhaps inevitable that Saudi Arabia would eventually intervene, admittedly under the aegis of the Gulf Co-operation Council alliance.
Riyadh has always taken a particular interest in its tiny neighbour, which serves as an important offshore banking hub and relatively liberal island for entertainment-starved Saudis.
While the Pearl roundabout, with the Pearl monument at its centre, has become the symbolic heart of the youthful protest movement, the intersection also resonates with the Gulf’s rulers as a landmark that commemorates the unity of the six GCC states.
The GCC was initially set up in 1981 as an anti-Iranian alliance by rulers that fretted over Ayatollah Khomeini’s fiery pan-Islamic rhetoric and aspirations for regional hegemony.
Though it has primarily evolved into an economic bloc, anti-Shia sentiment is common throughout the region, and has been exacerbated by Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons programme and the ascendancy of Shia in Iraq since 2003.
Despite the arrival of Saudi troops, the Pearl roundabout protesters remain determined to sustain their campaign to oust the royal family.
“Even if 10,000 of us die, no problem. I’m ready to be the first,” says Jaffer Dawood to vigorous nods from nearby protesters. “We are just so fed up, that’s why we are ready to die.”
The Saudi troops’ remit remains unclear. Akhbar al-Khaleej, a pro-government Bahraini newspaper, reported that their “mission will be limited to protecting vital facilities, such as oil, electricity and water installations, and financial and banking facilities”.
This could indicate that the Bahraini government will refrain from clearing the main Pearl roundabout camp, which would lead to bloody clashes. However, conflict is likely with protesters who have erected a secondary camp outside the Bahrain Financial Harbour and closed off a swathe of the central business district with makeshift checkpoints and barricades.
The arrival of foreign troops could also radicalise more protesters. Demonstrations have overwhelmingly been peaceful, but some youths have started to arm themselves with sticks and metal rods.
This is to defend themselves against pro-government gangs who roam some neighbourhoods, they say, but some observers fear that a heavy-handed Saudi crackdown could spark a more violent insurrection.
“We have been peaceful, but after being attacked so much it is difficult,” says Salman Rahma, a protesters at the Pearl roundabout.
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