Activists call for days of rage as F1 arrives in Bahrain

Police scatter 200 protesters with stun grenades after rally as Bernie Ecclestone calls country 'peaceful'

guardian.co.uk, Paul Weaver in Bahrain, Wednesday 18 April 2012

A woman and her child pass in front of anti-Formula One graffiti in the village
 of Barbar, west of Bahrain’s capital Manama. Photograph: Hamad I
Mohammed/Reuters

Bahrain was recently described as a "quiet and peaceful" place by the most powerful voice in Formula One, Bernie Ecclestone, and passed as a safe venue to race by Jean Todt, president of the FIA, the sport's governing body.

On Wednesday, however, about 200 protesters confronted police for more than an hour before being scattered by stun grenades. They chanted "down with the government" and "we want freedom" as they waved posters supporting the hunger striker and human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja.

The demonstration took police and government officials by surprise as it happened in the middle of the main shopping area in the capital, Manama. Most unofficial demonstrations have been confined to outlying villages.

"Formula One here is the sport of the ruling family, the sport of the crown prince, the son of the king, who is considered to be the biggest violator," said Nabeel Rajab, one of the country's leading activists, who was at the demonstration. Not far off riot police carried batons and teargas guns.

Rajab said: "Because of crimes committed last year Bahrain was in international isolation. Now Formula One is used as a PR tool to come out of international isolation. The race is helping the ruling family. Yes, people are angry. Yes, it is a negative message to the people of Bahrain who lost a lot of people, it sends the wrong message to the people."

Activists in the country are pushing to get their voices heard ahead of Sunday's race. Three "days of rage" have been called, to begin after prayers on Friday. The opposition groups are particularly resentful of the promotional slogan "unif1ed" which is being used by race organisers with the letters "F1" highlighted in the middle.

Nearly 50 people have been killed since February 2011 in violence between security forces and protesters from Bahrain's Shia majority, which seeks to break the near monopoly of power held by the island nation's Sunni monarchy.

About 70% of Bahrain's population is Shia. They claim they face widespread discrimination, however, and that they are blocked from key political or military posts. Sunni leaders have offered some reforms, but the opposition says they fall short of their demands.

Like many others Rajab sees the opportunity to use Sunday's race as a weapon against the government.

He said: "We are trying to reap the benefit of Formula One being here. We don't have anything personal against [it] but, whether it happens or not we will try to get the benefit of the publicity.

"We have been ignored completely up until now, not only by western governments but also western media. We are fighting for the same goal and values that you have in Europe and fought for hundreds of years ago – democracy, liberty, justice, equality.

"I've been amazed at the coverage over the last few days. [Formula One racing] is not political if it is in England or wherever, but here it is the ruling family's sport."

Some of the protesters even admit to being Formula One fans. At an earlier, peaceful and planned demonstration held beside the airport, where about 3,000 people gathered, one participant was wearing a red Ferrari shirt.

Beside him his friend (neither of them wanted to be named) said: "I like Formula One. A lot of us do. This is not a protest against Formula One. It is a protest against the government using this weekend's race as a tool of propaganda, to legitimise what is going on in this country.

"They pretend we are a happy and united people. But there is no peace here. We are attacked by the police and beaten on a regular basis by the police, who make pre-emptive strikes against our homes."

Rajab is confident that there will be no violence on Sunday. "Sometimes people might do stupid things, maybe if the police overreact or something. But there will be intention to hurt anyone. We believe we need to make more friends rather than more enemies.

"Our protests were all peaceful until a couple of months ago. And then they started using Molotov cocktails. It is something very new. We condemn that. It is still not as violent as the government but all the same we do not think violence will solve the problem."

Rajab said he had been a victim of violence. "Quite often they beat me. Attack my family, attack with teargas, beat me up. Before last night we had four dead ducks in my garden because of the teargas every day. "

Privately, the Formula One teams said they did not want this race to go ahead. This thursday, as they gather at the Bahrain international circuit, even the sport's bosses must be wondering if they got this one wrong.

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