Death of opposition member in Manama causes riots, gas station fire bombed
Bahrain, Politics, 8/4/1998

The Bahraini daily Gulf Daily News on Monday reported that one man was burned in an explosive bottle attack against a gas station in which he works.

The paper quoted a source at the Bahraini Ministry of the Interior as saying that the attack was launched early Saturday by two men who broke the glass in the station's office and dropped a Molotov cocktail inside.

The fire extended to another office in the station, which is located in Jaddaf suburb. Firemen were able to extinguish the fire. One worker was rescued and the attackers fled.

The police began to inquire about the incident to which the petrol station was exposed, but the opposition said that the owner of the station is Shiite and that the government was the one who set the fire to it.

Meanwhile, a photo of the corpse of an opposition member who was killed due to torture by security men in Bahrain caused disturbances in Manama. The opposition said that he was arrested a month ago by security forces and killed by torture.

A demonstration arose, but it was broken up by security forces.

The government denied the killing of opposition member Nouh El-Nouh, saying that the latter died in the hospital due to a disease, but the government statement did not tackle the subject whether he was arrested or released. The government said that the opposition is preparing to escalate the crisis, and the government spread its troops in several areas of Bahrain.

Aggressions and deliberate fires have taken place in Bahrain since December 1994 when acts of violence and disturbances started, led by the Shiite opposition demanding the restoration of the parliament dissolved by prince Issa Bin Salman al-Khalifa in 1975. So far the violence has claimed the lives of at least 38 persons.

Previous Stories:
  Manama fire is not political, asylum seekers escaped through Dubai   (7/24/1998)
  Huge fire in Bahrain   (5/13/1998)
  Bahraini official says human rights abuses distorted   (9/22/1997)

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