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Wait 'til these idiots start rioting in Iraq...
Bahrain Rioters Throw Petrol Bombs at Police By Mehrdad Balali
MANAMA (Reuters) - Shi'ite Muslim rioters on Thursday lobbed petrol bombs at police in Bahrain during a protest against a concert by Arab singers they deemed immoral.
It was the second day of riots by Shi'ite youths in the capital of the Gulf Arab state, a regional banking hub and the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.
A march on Wednesday turned violent, with mobs setting tires on fire, blocking roads and attacking photographers they suspected of being undercover policemen.
Thursday's rioters were from the poor Shi'ite village of Sanabis near a shopping mall where the concert was being held.
Some said they were religious people who could not tolerate such concerts. Riot police stood by, but at one point drove toward the rioters in their jeeps to stop them from advancing.
There were no casualties or reported arrests. Riot police fired tears gas to try and disperse the protesters.
Bahrain, a key U.S. ally, was racked by four years of unrest in the 1990s, mostly by Shi'ites, a majority in the Sunni-ruled Gulf Arab state, demanding political and economic reforms.
The majority of Wednesday's protesters were also Shi'ites. They demanded the scrapping of the amnesty for officials accused of torturing prisoners to death. Police detained seven of them.
Shi'ite youth, many unemployed and poor, have rioted in the past disrupting concerts and attacking hotels that have bars.
Wednesday's march was meant to mark 'martyrs day,' a reference to the killing of two people by police on December 17, 1994, at the start of a wave of unrest in Bahrain.
An activist group, the National Committee for Martyrs and Torture Victims, says at least 3,500 people were tortured while in jail for opposition activity in the past two decades.
Thousands of Bahraini victims of alleged torture have petitioned King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa to cancel the law which prevents them from suing officials blamed for their torture.
King Hamad, who came to power in 1999, issued the amnesty law by decree in 2002 following landmark political reforms that included pardoning all political prisoners and exiled activists.
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