23/ 24 February 2016

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

Bahrain
Sunni
opposition leader gets
one-year jail term
Dubai (AFP) - A Bahrain
court jailed a Sunni
opposition leader for
one year for incitement
against the regime on
Wednesday but dropped
a more serious charge
of promoting political
change by force, a judicial
official said.
Ibrahim Sharif, whose
secular Waed movement
took
part
in
2011
protests alongside parties
representing the Gulf
state's Shiite majority, had
strongly denied the latter
charge.

Saudi security forces

kill terrorist suspect in
village raid
Saudi security forces on
Tuesday killed a suspect
wanted
on
terrorism
charges during a raid on
a village in the country's
oil-producing
Eastern
Province, the state news
agency SPA said.
The raid took place in
Awamiya, home town
of a prominent Shi'ite
Muslim cleric, Nimr alNimr, whose execution in
January prompted angry
protests in the area against
the ruling Al Saud dynasty.
A Saudi interior ministry
statement identified the
suspect as Ali Mahmoud
Ali Abdullah, a Bahraini

But in a statement,
the prosecutor general
expressed disappointment
with the decision of the
High Criminal Court and
raised the possibility of
an appeal to the Court
of Cassation on the more
serious accusation.
Sharif already served
four years of a five-year
sentence handed down
over the 2011 protests for
an elected prime minister
in
the
Sunni-ruled
kingdom before being
released under a royal
amnesty last June.

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AFP. He reported black

smoke hanging over the
town from tires burned in
the streets by residents.

Saudi police shoot

dead Bahraini suspect
in restive town
Security forces in Saudi
Arabia shot dead a wanted
Bahraini "terrorist" who
fired at them on Tuesday
in the home town of
a prominent executed
Shiite cleric, the interior
ministry said.
It identified the dead
suspect as Ali Mahmoud
Ali Abdullah and said an
operation to arrest him
took place in Awamiya
town at 4:00 pm (1300
GMT).

The interior ministry

spokesman said that when
officers raided a farm
in Awamiya the suspect
"opened fire and the
situation was responded
to, resulting in his death.
In his possession was an
automatic weapon and
pistol."
In an unusual move, the
interior ministry released
a photo of Abdullah
wearing a baseball cap
sideways on his head.

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Gunfire
was
still
sounding in the Gulf
coast community Tuesday
evening, a witness told
national, and said he was
killed during a gun battle.
He was wanted for taking
part in "terrorist crimes",
the ministry added.
A resident said more than
a dozen armored vehicles
had entered the town
and a video apparently
recorded by local residents
and distributed online
appeared to show burning
tires, automatic rifle fire
and smoke rising above
houses.

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Saudi
police
kill
Bahraini
suspect
in executed cleric's
hometown
Black smoke from tires
burnt in protest hung over
the eastern Saudi hometown
of a prominent executed
Shia cleric on Tuesday
night after security forces
shot and killed a wanted
Bahraini "terrorist" who
fired at them, according to
the interior ministry.
The
interior
ministry
identified the dead suspect
as Ali Mahmoud Ali
Abdullah and said an
operation to arrest him took
place in Awamiya town at
4:00pm (1300 GMT).

The
interior
ministry
spokesman said that when
officers raided a farm in
Awamiya, Abdullah "opened
fire and the situation was
responded to, resulting in
his death. In his possession
was an automatic weapon
and pistol."
Activists have rejected the
ministry's account, saying
that Abdullah, the nephew
of one of 23 men on a
wanted list following local
protests after the execution
of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr last
month, did not fire at the
security forces.
Gunfire was still sounding
in the Gulf coast community
on Tuesday evening as
residents set tires on fire,
a witness told AFP and

videos shared with MEE

revealed.
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