day of rage

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http://www.youtube.com/WorldNews2013i Subscribe for Latest World News Updates 2013 Bahrain Formula One: Protesters Clash with Police as TearGas Fired - 1% Continue with F1 Race Here is a timeline of events in Bahrain leading to the controversy over the Formula One race this weekend. February 14, 2011 - An anti-government "Day of Rage" inspired by popular upheavals in Egypt and Tunisia takes place. One protester is killed. The next day another person dies when police clash with mourners at the protester's funeral. February 17 - Bahrain police storm Pearl Roundabout, the focal point of protests, on a Manama square, to clear activists camped out there. At least seven people are killed. February 21 - Bahrain cancels Formula One motor race due to have been held on March 13. Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al Khalifa says "the country's entire attention is focused on building a new national dialogue for Bahrain". March 3 - Tensions turn into clashes between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims, the first direct confrontation between the two communities since February's large-scale protests. March 14 - Around 1,000 Saudi troops are deployed in Bahrain at the ruling family's request to protect government facilities after mainly Shi'ite protesters overrun police and block roads.The United Arab Emirates says it will send 500 police. Bahrain police stop protesters in Manama Riot police in Manama last year March 15 - Bahrain declares martial law. Anti-government protesters in Bahrain flooded a main highway in a march stretching for miles and security forces fired tear gas in breakaway clashes as the country's leaders struggle to contain opposition anger ahead of the Grand Prix. The government allowed the massive Friday demonstration in an apparent bid to avoid the hit-and-run street battles that are the hallmark of the Gulf nation's 14-month uprising -- and an embarrassing spectacle for Bahrain's Western-backed rulers as F1 teams prepare for Sunday's race. But violence flared as small groups in the march peeled away from the route to challenge riot police, who answered with volleys of tear gas and stun grenades. Some protesters sought refuge in a shopping mall and nearby shops about 12 miles north of the Formula One track, where practice runs took place and Bahrain's crown prince vowed the country's premier international event would go ahead. Last year, a wave of anti-government protests by the island's Shiite majority and a crackdown by the Sunni rulers forced organisers to cancel the 2011 Bahrain GP. At least 50 people have been killed since the start of Bahrain's uprising -- the longest-running in the Arab Spring -- which seeks a greater political voice for Shiites and to weaken the near monopoly of the Sunni dynasty that has ruled for more than 200 years. "We demand democracy" and "Down, Down Hamad," chanted some of the tens of thousands of opposition supporters in reference to King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, as they massed on the main highway leading out of the capital, Manama. Bahrain's monarchy is the main backer of the F1 race, and the crown prince owns rights to the event. Hours before the march, Bahrain's most senior Shiite cleric, Sheik Isa Qassim, delivered a strongly worded sermon that denounced authorities for making dozens of arrests of suspected dissidents in recent weeks. He called the intensified crackdowns before the F1 event "as if we are entering a war." Bahrain's rulers lobbied hard to stage this year's Grand Prix as part of attempts to portray stability in the strategic kingdom, which is home to the US Navy's 5th Fleet. On the opposite side, human rights groups and others campaigned to keep the race away, citing the relentless pressures by security forces and the imprisonment of opposition figures -- including a Shiite political activist on a more than a two-month-long hunger strike. The US-based group Physicians for Human Rights also said it was concerned about the near daily use of tear gas in Bahrain...