Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Year Ago at Pearl Roundabout

Editor's Note (1349 GMT) --- because of the pace of events in Bahrain today, we have split this entry into "Bahrain Live Coverage Special: The Anniversary Protests" and "Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Shelling of Homs Continues".

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Three women raise victory signs as they walk to Pearl Roundabout in Bahrain

See also Syria Opinion: Who Are the Real Opposition?
Bahrain Special: "Responsible Reaction"--- How Police Will "Kettle" Today's Demonstrations
Monday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "The Reasonable Reaction to Provocation"

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1338 GMT: Activist Dominic Kavakeb tweets that he is hearing reports "suggesting Police are containing people in villages using heavy presence and armoured vehicles". Whilst unconfirmed, this does match with the heavy police presence we have been tracking in Sanabis and John Yates' call for using "kettling" and "containment" of protesters.

Our correspondent in Sanabis updates:

Shooting black tear gas onto roofs now. They don't care if children are there or not!

Immediately before the teargas attack near Nabeel Rajab, an EA correspondent sent us this picture of armored vehicles massing near the village gate leading to Sitra:

1330 GMT: These Tweets from Reuters reported Andrew Hammond give an idea of how things have played out so far in Bahrain. The first Tweet was sent 35 minutes ago:

Nabeel rajab and crowd walking down highway to #lulu roundabout

Police just fired volley of teargas rounds directly at nabeelrajab and protesters and press, passing cars, everyone fled into cars

Cannisters whistled by our heads, bounced off cars. This near the now heavily fortified pearl

They also chased everyone down road, firing straight at ppl fleeing

An EA correspondent adds these details, and shares

the picture below:

According to an eye witness Nabeel was seen walking near martyrs sq with some reporters Police stopped him now and 4 officers are surrounding him at the moment.

EA's correspondent reported that tear gas was fired when Nabeel refused to leave, but eventually "Nabeel left the place now in his car."

1324 GMT: There are now reports that police in Bahrain were talking with Nabeel Rajab, but allowed him to get into his car and leave.

These details are coming quickly, so stay tuned.

1314 GMT: There are multiple reports that Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab has been arrested. This news was also reported by an EA correspondent in Bahrain, who is following up. More details coming soon.

Moments ago, this picture was posted by an activist showing Rajab marching towards Pearl Roundabout:

1258 GMT: An EA correspondent updates John Horne on the situation in Sanabis:

Helicopter circling non stop. Navy armoured tanks driving up and down road at back of a Sanabis. Youths have roads blocked with wood and are keeping watch on roads. Police on foot shooting tear gas. Everyone out on roofs.

James Miller takes over the live coverage.

1238 GMT: EA's John Horne summarises news that, to mark the anniversary of the Bahrain uprising, hacker group Anonymous launched #OperationBahrain for 13 to 15 February. The operation calls for a series of websites, including many connected to the Bahrain government, to be attacked and taken down.

The main government site --- Bahrain.bh --- is currently unavailable. The website of Combined Systems, accused of selling tear gas to regimes seeking to suppress the Arab Spring,has also been attacked.

1214 GMT: A notable passage from Gregg Carlstrom's overview for Al Jazeera English, "One Year Later, Bahrain Slow to Reform":

The Bahraini government's promised reforms have meant little so far for Taha al-Derazi, one of the country's leading neurosurgeons, who has spent the last nine months wondering if he'll ever be allowed to return to work.

Al-Derazi was suspended from his job in May, allegedly because of his political activism last year, though he says he never attended any protests while he was on duty. He was one of countless medical workers targeted by security forces, though he managed to avoid being arrested, unlike dozens of his colleagues. “They [the police] say it’s because they saw our pictures in the demonstrations in Pearl Roundabout,” he said.

Now he is forbidden to even visit colleagues at Salmaniya Medical Complex, the main hospital in Bahrain.

“At our hospital we have only two neurosurgeons, and both of us are suspended, so it has become very difficult for the patients,” Al-Derazi said. “They don’t know where to go.”

Al-Derazi is one of more than 4,000 Bahraini workers who were suspended or sacked for political reasons last year. The independent government commission which studied last year's unrest concluded that the sackings violated Bahraini law, and that Shia employees were often singled out for termination because of their sect.

Bahrain's labour ministry says, according to official statistics released earlier this month, that all but 179 of the dismissed workers have now returned to their jobs....

[But] a closer reading of the government figures reveals that less than half of the 2,462 dismissed workers have actually returned to their jobs. And those figures only cover the private sector; an estimated 850 public sector workers are also still unemployed.

1209 GMT: Tanks, part of the regime's offensive throughout Homs Province, move in Inshaat today:

1144 GMT: Huwaida Arraf and Radhika Sainath, two American activists detained and deported from Bahrain last weekend, tell Democracy Now! about their experience and observations:

EA's John Horne picks up this passage about the US Embassy's support of the Bahraini regime in the seizure of the video and still cameras and computers of the activists:

HUWAIDA ARRAF: And I want to also make a comment on the role of the U.S., the U.S. administration. When we were in detention, the representative of the U.S. embassy did come visit us. And one thing that the police forces wanted to do is to take away all of our equipment, and they did, by force. But the American embassy representative was relaying that to us, in that they have a right to take away our equipment.

And I said to her, "Well, our footage, we are documenting—we did interviews with people that had been tortured, with leaders of the pro-democracy movement, and I am very worried that this footage and this documentation is going to be used to target these activists. And you know what a horrible human rights record the Bahrain administration has. So I’m asking you, I’m asking the American government, to do something to make sure that the Bahraini government will not use the equipment and the material that they confiscate from me in order to target human rights activists." And the response was, "Well, we’ll put your request through." And then there was nothing. And actually. the representative said, "Well" — she said to me, "Well, you took that chance, you know, with filming these things."

And so, I’m really horrified because, you know, the U.S. government talks about a respect for human rights and democracy, and yet they wouldn’t do something basic as take some kind of measure to make sure that what the government was going to take from us from force wouldn’t be used to target and possibly torture more democracy activists.

RADHIKA SAINATH: And just to add to that, they confiscated both of our laptops, Huwaida’s video camera, digital camera, iPad....

HUWAIDA ARRAF: Phones.

RADHIKA SAINATH: ....cell phones, BlackBerry --- everything that we have. And it’s still in Bahraini custody, and they’ve refused to turn it over. And, you know, some of that equipment has photographs of human rights activists, phone numbers, other things. And we’re very concerned about how that’s going to be used by the government of Bahrain.

1133 GMT: Update from an EA correspondent in Bahrain:

I am on the roof watching police at entrance to Sanabis swinging iron rods! Bahrain now full of people on roof shouting Allah Akhbar.

1113 GMT: According to activist Said Yousif Almuhafda, a protester named Jaber Al-Ahmed Hassan has been run over by a police car in Aldaih and is now in Salmaniya Medical Centre.

1110 GMT: Another video of the shelling of the Bab Amro section of the Syrian city Homs this morning:

1105 GMT: A house in fire on Abusaiba after it was hit by a tear gas canister:

1035 GMT: An EA correspondent in Bahrain follows up on the video of an attack by protesters on a Sitra police station (see 0918 GMT).

The protesters, armed with Molotov cocktails, were angered by news that police had beaten and arrested two girls, aged 13 and 15. Lawyers for the girls have now gone to the police station to file a complaint.

1006 GMT: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said, "The shelling of the Baba Amr neighborhood began at dawn and is the most intense in five days. Two rockets are falling a minute on average."

Hadi Abdullah, an activist in Homs reached by telephone, said, "The situation is tragic. There are pregnant women, people with heart problems, diabetics and, foremost, wounded people who we cannot evacuate....The urgency is to evacuate the wounded. How can we let them die in cold blood?"

Abdullah continued, "For one week, the dead have been buried in gardens, because even the cemeteries and graves are being targeted. People are crammed into shelters."

0946 GMT: An EA correspondent in Bahrain reports that the 14 February Coalition is telling protesters to pull back until 3 p.m. (1200 GMT).

Police seize a protester in Aldaih:

0942 GMT: In western Libya, representatives of about 100 militias said Monday that they had formed a new federation to prevent in-fighting and to press the National Transitional Council for further reform.

The leader of the new federation, Colonel Mokhtar Fernana, claimed the Council’s committee in charge of integrating revolutionary fighters was taking in men who had fought for former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi. “This committee is an attempt to hijack the revolution."

0928 GMT: An EA correspondent checks in from Bahrain:

Was in house in Sanabis with injured woman. Police broke her door and shot tear gas at her foot. [She has] two broken toes.

Sitra causeway closed and village is under attack. Women and children cannot leave for safety.

Armoured vehicles at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre near Sanabis village:

0918 GMT: Claimed footage of youth, angered by a security forces' assault on Sanabis village this morning, attacking a police station in Sitra with Molotov cocktails:

Women shouting "Allahu Akbar" after the raid in Sanabis:

0913 GMT: Armoured vehicles moving around Pearl Roundabout in Bahrain:

0848 GMT: Leading activist Said Yousif Almuhafda tweets, "Riot police stopped me and @NABEELRAJAB [Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights] now in Banj Jamra."

A woman walks amidst tear gas in Saar:

0845 GMT: Bahraini protesters try to reach Pearl Roundabout from Alzinj village:

0835 GMT: An activist has reported via Twitter, "Around 20 national guard armored vehicles in front of #Bahrain Mall making their way towards Pearl Square."

Photos spread across the Internet support the claim.

Protesters scattering, amidst tear gas, before reaching Pearl Roundabout in Bahrain:

0829 GMT: Bahrain's Ministry of Interior puts out the line: "Police Media Directorate cautions against believing news on dubious TV channels that may attempt to mislead the public. Police Media Dir says roads in #Bahrain are clear situations are normal. MOI reminds public to get trusted information from official sources."

Meanwhile, the regime's leadership, including Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa and Crown Prince Salman have said, "Those seeking to drive the country into a 'dark tunnel' would not succeed."

0822 GMT: In Syria, the regime's shelling of the Bab Amr section of Homs continues for an 11th day. Footage this morning, with the cameraman shouting, "Allahu Akbar":

A resident shows the damage --- "This is what people wake up to at 6 a.m.":

0820 GMT: The first moments of a march from AlDaih to Pearl Roundabout --- the flags have the logo of the 14 February Coalition:

0810 GMT: Nabeel Rajab, the head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, has put out the message via Twitter: "Join me at 3:30pm (1230 GMT). We drive to Martyrs Sq (Pearl Roundabout), park our cars, and run to Martyrs Sq, from all directions."

0720 GMT: Activists have posted the names of 11 more people whom they claim have been arrested in Bahrain today: Hamad Hassan Jaffer, Ahmed Jafar Holiday, Aqeel Farhood, Isa Abdullah Abdullah, Abdullah Hassan Abbas, Yusuf Mohamed Hassan, Sharif, Abdullah Makki, Ali Farid, Sayed Mohammed Jawad, and Ali Salman Ibrahim Al-Hadar.

Two other men were reportedly detained earlier this morning, trying to reach Pearl Roundabout (see 0620 GMT).

0700 GMT: An EA correspondent writes from Bahrain:

Young boy arrested in Sanabis. Young woman goes to police to get him back, says, "We will bring his passport." Police say, "Yes --- Iran passport."

The young boy was not protesting, just standing outside his home.

Heavy shooting in sanabis now again. Tear gas.

0650 GMT: The hacktivist collective Anonymous claims to have taken down Bahraini government websites this morning. The Government's main site is up, although it is loading slowly for us.

Anonymous also reportedly took over the homepages of companies manufacturing tear gas used by Bahraini security forces.The website of Combined System is still down.

0620 GMT: EA correspondent in Bahrain have been sending reports this morning. One wrote, "It is 6 a.m. (0300 GMT). Police shooting heavy in sanabis, helicopter out. We are heading now to Lulu (Pearl Roundabout)." Within the last hour, the correspondent --- not able to reach the Roundabout, sent the message, "Still at house. My friend gone out to help young men that have been attacked. Tear gas strong in Sanabis. Can hear shooting."

Two protesters, with Bahraini flags, set out for Pearl Roundabout --- Mohammed AlHaiki and Mohammed Jaffar have reportedly been arrested:

0600 GMT: To be honest, we did not appreciate the significance of what was going to happened a year ago today in the Bahraini capital Manama.

We were occupied most of the day with coverage of protests in Iran, so it was only at 1845 GMT that we noted, "We will have a full round-up later tonight or in the morning, but here is footage of the suppression of a demonstration in Duraz in Bahrain today." 

At the end of the day, we wrote, "In Bahrain, eyewitnesses said one protester ((Ali Mushaimaa) was killed as police in fired teargas and rubber bullets to break up pro-reform demonstrations. As helicopters circled over Manama, more than 20 people were hurt, one of them critically, in clashes in Shi'ite villages that ring the capital."

By the next day, however, we were recognising that this was more than a limited protest against the rule of the monarchy. Not only were we making regular updates, but we were posting a video and picture feature on "this morning's procession alongside the coffin of a demonstrator killed on Monday, from the gathering [at Pearl Roundabout] to the use of tear gas by police to the continuation of the march".