Manama - Unrest spread across the Middle East and North Africa on Thursday as Bahrain launched a swift military crackdown on anti-government protesters and clashes were reported in Libya and Yemen.
Troops in armoured vehicles took control of the Bahraini capital after police firing buckshot and teargas drove out protesters hoping to emulate those who toppled veteran leaders in Egypt and Tunisia.
It was the worst violence in the Gulf island kingdom in decades and a sign of the nervousness felt by Bahrain's Saudi-allied Sunni al-Khalifa royal family, long aware of simmering discontent among the country's majority Shi'as.
Three people were killed, 231 were injured and opposition leaders said dozens were detained and about 60 were missing.
“They are killing us!” one demonstrator told Reuters.
In Yemen, one protester was killed in the port of Aden, the third since protests began seven days ago on the other side of the Arabian peninsula, and in North Africa there were reports of five deaths in new unrest in Libya.
A Libyan “Day of Rage” promoted on social media websites started with little sign of activity in the capital, where supporters of Muammar Gaddafi, in power for 42 years, held a rally in his support.
A resident of the eastern city of Benghazi told Reuters there were clashes in the nearby town of Al Bayda between government supporters and relatives of two young men killed during a protest a day earlier.
A Benghazi resident said at least five people had been killed in violence in nearby towns but it was impossible to establish an exact death toll.
In Iraq, one person was killed and 33 were injured when police opened fire on anti-government protesters in the northern city of Sulaimaniya, medical sources and witnesses said.
“Profound social and economic issues throughout the Middle East and North Africa will continue to serve as a driving force for further unrest,” said political risk analyst Anthony Skinner at the Maplecroft consultancy. “Protests in Bahrain and Libya reflect the ease with which protests have spread in the region.”
Such worries helped push Brent crude prices to a 28-month high of $104 a barrel at one point on Thursday and were a factor in gold prices extending early gains to five-week highs.
However, Britain's security minister, Pauline Neville-Jones, said in an interview revolts by young Arabs seeking freedom were a “huge opportunity” for Western counter-terrorism because they weakened al-Qaeda's argument that democracy and Islam were incompatible. - Reuters