A Bahraini cleric says authorities have demolished 30 Shia mosques during their five-month-old crackdown on dissent in the Sunni-ruled Gulf kingdom. Seyyed Abdullah al-Ghoreifi says 30 Shia mosques have been destroyed as part of the government's campaign against the Shia majority demanding greater freedoms and more rights.
Al-Ghoreifi spoke during a rally Saturday on the outskirts of the capital, Manama. The demolitions are likely to further inflame sectarian tensions in the island kingdom, the home of the US Navy's 5th Fleet.