MANAMA: Shots rang out Wednesday as Bahraini troops backed with armoured vehicles began clearing Manama's financial district of illegal road blocks, as handfuls of protesters offered little resistance.
Military helicopters circled overhead as the troops escorted a bulldozer intothe Financial Harbour business complex, the centre of a regional finance hub that hosts major international banks and multinational corporations.
An AFP reporter at the scene said shots were fired in the side streets but there appeared to be no resistance from anti government demonstrators who had seized the business district on Sunday, paralysing the economy.
Clutches of demonstrators could be heard chanting "Allahu akbar" (God is greatest) and some set fire to rubbish bins in the streets, but the area was
largely deserted.
Security forces earlier Wednesday fired buckshot and tear gas to drive Pro democracy demonstrators out of Manama's Pearl Square, which has been the focus of the protests since mid February.
Sheikh Ali Salman, head of the main Shia opposition group backing the protesters, said the Sunni led regime was acting like Libyan strongman Moamer Qadhafi and using "extreme brutality" against ordinary people.
"We call on our sons not to confront the security forces and to save the lives of everybody," he said in an interview with Al-Jazeera television."We reiterate the peaceful character of the uprising despite the thugs that have been deployed by the regime."He also appealed to the United Nations to to "intervene to protect civilians from forces that are dealing with them like enemies."
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