2200 GMT: After clashes in Sitra in Bahrain today, a police SUV lost control and hit a wall, then burned. The Ministry of Interior reported that four policemen were injured.
An EA correspondent reports, "Sitra is now blocked by police am trying to find away in. Expectations of raids on houses & arrests on the island".
February has been a busy month for Qorvis, the American public relations firm hired at $480,000 a year to spruce up Bahrain's tarnished image.
For starters, there was the usual round of "good news" press releases to be churned out highlighting the kingdom's tolerance, its culture, its charitable work and, of course, its economic progress:
Earlier, Sami spoke to NPR's Andy Carvin, and said that electricity, and water, was cut for much of the city.
2111 GMT:Reuters, citing several sources, says that wounded French journalist Edith Bouvier has arrived in Lebanon. French President Sarkozy also told Reuters that he spoke to Bouvier, and she will be flown back on a government plane.
Sarkozy sparked a false rumor earlier this week that Bouvier was free, but this seems like a legitimate report.
2103 GMT: An explosive allegation from a major opposition group in Syria tonight:
Qunaitara: Jabatha: Regime forces stormed the town which lies on Israel's border with Syria. They are not permitted to enter this specific area without an Israeli permission or without the observation of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) . The regime's forces killed 7 citizens during their operation, among them 3 brothers of the Marweed family and one woman with her daughter, as well as a man from the Hariri family.
In a phone call with Abu Haneen from the heart of Baba Amr, he informed us of the following:
Baba Amr has faced multiple attempts of being stormed by the Syrian National Army. Activists worked hard to save the neighborhood and protect the civilians. In the meanwhile, Baba Amr was still being shelled. Clashes continued until the evening. The Free Syrian Army succeeded in affecting loss in the Syrian National Army, both people & supplies. Some of the leaders of the Farooq Division left the site of the clashes to securely transport women and children to safer regions. Activists are still defending the neighborhood against the army that was essentially defeated at its attempts. The activists have seized control of Baba Amr and the Assad army is positioned at the outskirts of the region.
While we can't verify the specific details of the report, there are two key points that continue to be repeated by all the trusted sources EA has made contact with - the FSA has been clashing with Assad soldiers, especially in the northeast of Baba Amr, and the troops have not fully occupied the neighborhood...
Yet. The third detail that is in nearly every report - Assad's military is capable of taking Baba Amr. It is possible that they are holding out to lessen the media attention, or because they want to avoid heavy losses, but the entire city is surrounded by extremely large amounts of pro-Assad military forces, and tonight they are closer to Baba Arm than they have been since the siege started.
If tens of thousands of people protest but the media is elsewhere, do they make a sound?
With attention focused on Syria --- and, it must be said, with no tear gas and violence to grab a headline --- press and broadcasters may have overlooked the rally called on Friday by Bahrain's main opposition societies, "A Nation That Refuses Humiliation".
The CEO of Bell Pottinger PR with Bahrain's Minister of EnergyThe BBC World Service show "World Have Your Say" broadcast a show last week that concerned the media war in Bahrain. Among the topics discussed was the government PR machine, though unbeknownst to the BBC, one of the guests on the show is the managing director of a company who receives money from the government to do PR. Another guest on the show was also suggested to the BBC by a PR company connected to the royal family, though the BBC were quick to emphasise that she was not representing the royal family.
Police arrest protesters in Bahrain's capital Manama, 11 February
The police started questioning me about my attendance at the protest, how I go there, and why I was present. Did I know that "they were saying bad things about the Bahraini regime, that they were chanting down with Hamad"?
Do they allow people to say bad things about the government in America?” asked one. The others nodded at his logic, certain that I would now understand the outrageousness of the protesters’ actions.
“Of course. People said bad things about George Bush all the time. They hated Bush. And now lots of people protest against Obama.”
They were quiet, and I pressed on, telling them that I was in their country, Pakistan, a few years ago supporting the lawyer’s democracy movement. “The people hated Musharraf, and they went to the street.” I hoped I played my cards right—what if these guys liked Musharraf? But nobody liked Musharraf. I watched their eyes blink in understanding. They hated their dictatorship, but were supporting another non-democratic regime.
Eventually, they left, taking the youth with them. The woman thanked me, if I had not been there, perhaps they would have taken her too.
I walked back towards where protesters had re-gathered. Little did I know that in the next few minutes, I would not escape so easily.
2053 GMT:Activist Zilal translates this video from Homs which shows the now-famous doctor, Mohammad al-Mohammad, speaking about the death of citizen journalist Rami Ahmad Al Sayed:
The doctor says that Ramy Sayed died after he hemorrhaged for 3 hours. He was hit by shrapnel from a rocket in the chest, abdomen, thigh and feet. He was injured while accompanying a family (4 member of the family also died). He also says that Rami was one of the most important cameraman and activist in Baba Amr and that he was killed because he was filming the reality in Baba Amr.
The man who speaks at the end of the video is Rami's brother. He says that Rami asked him to give him his phone to film demonstrations the first times, and after that he said to his brother "Bring me a camera, I want to film."
2225 GMT: Apologies for limited service tonight, as EA staff have been travelling and giving presentations. We will be back from 0600 GMT with latest news.
The last of three charges, "undermining public security by assembling with a group of more than five people", was dropped on Monday by a court in Manama.
Authorities had released Matar and another Al-Wefaq member, Jawad Fayruz, in August after three months of detention.
1730 GMT: Protesters makes another dash for Pearl Roundabout in Bahrain as security forces fire sound bombs:
Saturday, March 3, 2012 at 7:24
