Saudi official: Gulf force to aid Bahrain
By Associated Press March 14, 2011 7:28AM
A barricade set up by Bahraini anti-government protesters Sunday, March 13, 2011, prevents traffic from entering the capital of Manama, Bahrain, with the skyscrapers of its financial district seen in the background. The demonstrators set up the barricade after riot police left the area, failing to dislodge them with rubber bullets and tear gas from their encampment at Pearl roundabout. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)
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Updated: March 14, 2011 7:28AM
MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — A security official in Saudi Arabia says a military force from Gulf states has been mobilized for Bahrain after a month of political unrest in the island kingdom.
The Saudi official says the units come from a special force within the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to brief media.
The intervention sharply boosts the regional stakes on behalf of Bahrain’s embattled Sunni rulers, who have faced growing pressures from the country’s majority Shiites for sweeping political reforms. Earlier Monday, a parliament bloc appealed for Bahrain’s king to impose martial law.
The GCC includes Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
