Visit sparks protests

Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets over the weekend to protest against President Bush's visit.

Vigorous but peaceful demonstrations took place outside the US Embassy in Zinj, the Al Fateh Mosque in Juffair, the United Nations building in Hoora as well as several separate protests in communities in the west of the kingdom.

Dozens of groups voiced their opposition to the Bush administration's policy in the Middle East, the war in Iraq, the treatment of prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay and the US Navy's Fifth Fleet base in Juffair.

On Friday morning, more than 100 demonstrators gathered in Duraz and marched to Saar where one photo-journalist said the American flag was burned in a symbolic gesture.

In the afternoon, five youth societies wielding placards and chanting slogans staged a demonstration outside the United Nations house.

Vice-president of the Bahrain Youth Society (Al Shabeeba), Hussain Oraibi, 26, told GulfWeekly: "We want to tell Bush you are not accepted here, nor is your military base, shut up and go home," adding "we refuse to let you start a new war from our land."

Yahya Al Mukharriq, 22, an account executive from Manama and a member of Al Shabeeba said: "We're here to express our opposition to Bush's visit. The wars he has started have affected everything in our lives. It's changed how the world looks at us. Arabs are seen as terrorists but we are peaceful people who simply want peace. Having Bush here is not what the people of Bahrain want and we want our government to know this."

The groups issued a joint statement denouncing aggression aimed at Iran and the possibility of a new war in the region, calling for the withdrawal of US and coalition troops from the region and highlighted their opposition to the US-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement.

Organiser Alamal Fareed said the statement, supported by the World Federation for Democratic Youth, had been sent to the US Embassy and the UN.

On Saturday, vigorous protests took place near the US Embassy and the Grand Mosque.

On the Al Fateh corniche, demonstrators wearing orange jump suits called for the closure of Guantanamo Bay and an end to the bloodshed in Iraq.

Organised by the National Justice Movement (Adala), demonstrators also denounced US involvement in Palestine and Afghanistan.

In Zinj, close to the US Embassy, more than 200 protesters gathered waving Bahraini, Iraqi, Lebanese, Palestinian, and Hizbollah flags.

Scores of security forces vehicles and dozens of riot police surrounded the embassy in a preventative measure.

The demonstration was organised by the National Democratic Action Society. The organisation's secretary general, Ebrahim Sharif, condemned the King's presentation of the Shaikh Isa First Class Medal to President Bush.

"He should not have been awarded this medal," he said. "He has started a war, divided Iraq and now threatens us with a new war. We would have welcomed him as a leader of a great nation if he abided by the spirit of the US Constitution and Declaration of Independence but the message he sends us is one of war, violence and division."

The demonstration was attended by 11 political and civil societies who used the protest as a platform to voice a range of grievances including the detainment of Bahrainis held following last month's civil unrest.

One woman from Sanabis, Umm Hashim, wore a placard emblazoned with the face of her brother, Mohammed Al Singace, who she says is being held in police custody.

"We are calling on the US to use their influence to free these activists," she said.

Another protester claimed that his brother had been snatched from his home on Thursday by masked men and now lies in a hospital bed.

Statements from international rights groups, Frontline and the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders were issued at the demonstration, with the latter issuing an open letter to President Bush calling on him to ensure free and fair trials for the 28 prisoners held since December.

Scores of women and children were also at the demonstration, some holding placards that read 'State terrorism: Made in USA.'

Saeed Abdulrahman, 43, an insurance executive from Hamad Town brought his two-year-old daughter with him.

"We don't want Bush here," he said. "In my opinion he is the real leader of the terrorists and we are angry that our government invited him."

Hind Salman, a 19-year-old student from Muharraq, attended with her father Tariq. She said: "What George Bush has done to the Arabs is awful. We want freedom and real democracy and the Americans don't show us that in Afghanistan, Iraq or Palestine. I am not against the American people but the American Government."

The demonstrations ended peacefully, with groups dissipating by sundown.