Bahrain calls for help as police are routed

Bahrain has called on neighbouring Gulf states for policing help after anti-government protesters routed riot police in a pitched battle that covered parts of the capital in teargas.

People familiar with the matter say the kingdom’s Sunni al-Khalifa royal family had asked the five other states in the Gulf Co-operation Council alliance for help with policing.

Early on Sunday riot police broke up a small camp of protesters outside Bahrain’s financial centre with teargas and rubber bullets, but, after several hours of fighting, demonstrators drove off the police and took control of much of the capital’s central business district.

Some observers fear the country is edging towards civil war, with armed Sunni police and sword-wielding government loyalists confronting Shia demonstrators.

Many Sunnis in Bahrain and the wider Gulf say the Bahraini Shia are sympathetic to Iran, a Shia theocracy that has long been at odds with its neighbours to the south.

The Gulf intervention could spark concerns that Iran will itself become involved if it leads to deaths among its co-religionists in Bahrain.

Abdulrahman al-Atiya, GCC secretary-general, on Sunday expressed “strong rejection of any foreign interference in the kingdom’s internal affairs”, asserting that “any acts aiming to destabilise the kingdom and sow dissension between its citizens represent a dangerous encroachment on the whole GCC security and stability”.

Nabeel al-Hamer, an adviser to the ruling family, said on Twitter on Sunday that forces from the neighbour Gulf states had already arrived in Bahrain.

Initial protests in Bahrain focused on democratic reform, but demands became more radical after a clumsy government clampdown resulted in the deaths of seven Shia demonstrators last month.

The crown prince, Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, has since tried to start a “national dialogue” with all political parties, but both moderate and hardline opposition have rejected formal talks.

While the moderate opposition, led by al-Wefaq, the largest Shia party, has asked the government to resign and the royal family to commit to a true constitutional monarchy before it enters talks, the hardline Shia parties have called for the ousting of the al-Khalifa royal family and the introduction of a republic.

In a speech on Sunday evening the crown prince agreed to consider demands presented by moderate opposition politicians, such as electoral reform, an empowered parliament and a “government that represents the will of the people”.

However, in recent weeks opposition hardliners have been ascendant, and continuing protests have caused clashes with security forces and government supporters.

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office on Sunday night advised against all travel to Bahrain.