2 missing Bahraini protesters found dead

Tue Mar 22, 2011

Bahrain opposition has announced that two protesters who were reported missing during the Manama-ordered crackdown on the popular revolution have been found dead.

Police officer Jawad al-Shamlan was found dead on Monday with a gunshot wound to the stomach, said Matar Matar of the main opposition Shia bloc Al-Wefaq political association, AFP reported.

Matar, who is one the 18 members of parliament who resigned last month in protest at violence against demonstrators, said that al-Shamlan went missing on Wednesday when security forces drove the protesters from Manama's Pearl Square.

He was buried on Monday in his village of Hajar, west of Manama.

Al-Wefaq also announced that Bahiya al-Aradi was found dead on Monday after being shot in the head. The 51-year-old woman also went missing on Wednesday evening.

Earlier on Sunday, Matar said that around 100 people have gone missing in the crackdown on the countrywide protests.

On Sunday, Bahraini opposition groups, led by Al-Wefaq, rejected King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa's offer of talks, saying the government should comply with the protesters' demands.

More than 15 people have been killed and about 1,000 others have been injured since the start of the anti-government protests in mid-February.

Protesters demand the ouster of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa from the Persian Gulf kingdom.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the Bahraini regime to end its crackdown on medical staff and human rights activists who speak out against government abuses.

“Bahrain should end its campaign of arrests of doctors and human rights activists,” HRW said in a statement released on Monday.

The human rights group said that “masked” security forces detained several doctors and rights activists on March 19-20.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/171119.html.