RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Bahrain police and Shiite villagers have clashed violently outside the of capital of Manama.
Arab News, in a report from Bahrain, said the fighting occurred south and also west of Manama late last week and had been sparked by the earlier arrest of a man on suspicion of subversion.
Villagers took to the streets and pelted police with stones in Sitra and set refuse alight, torched a car and exploded two gas cylinders. Police responded with rubber bullets and tear gas and took three hours to restore order, the report said.
At least 10 people were arrested.
West of the capital in the villages of Sanabis and Daith, youths reportedly blocked roads, hurled Molotov cocktails and set tires on fire.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, seven youths were arrested.
On Feb. 17 the ministry had announced the discovery of a clandestine training camp on a farm in Bani Jamrah, a Shiite area west of Manama, where young Shiite activists were being trained in violent protest.
The discovery came after the arrest of a villager named Radhi Ali Rahdi, who authorities believe was involved in rioting two days earlier over the arrest of Haq Movement Secretary General Hassan Mushaima and Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, the president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights.
Musaima and al_Khawaja face trail on charges of endangering state security by way of statements criticizing authorities.
The majority of Bahrain's people are Shiite Muslims, but the Sunni minority dominates the government. In elections last year, Shiites won 43 percent of the seats in parliament but believe they were marginalized by the Sunni government through appointments to Cabinet and parliamentary positions.
The Haq Movement in November had asked the United Nations to investigate allegations that a secret government group was trying to manipulate to election to the Sunni's advantage.
Bahrain is the location of the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, which operates in the Gulf and nearby areas.
