Two US activists detained in Bahrain

Feb 11, 2012, 18:59 GMT

Manama - Bahraini authorities on Saturday detained two United States activists, as pro-reform protests continued across the small Gulf island.

Witnesses saw Huwaida Arraf, an American-Palestinian activist and co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement, being taken away by police as she joined a march in the capital Manama and attempted to reach the former site of pro-reform protests, Lulu Roundabout.

Radhika Sainath, an American-Indian activist, was also detained during the same march.

Arraf, who chairs the Free Gaza Movement, and Sainath, had both arrived in Bahrain in recent days along with other western activists to express their support for pro-reform protesters on the first anniversary of the start of the Bahrain uprising, on February 14, 2011.

Manama authorities confirmed their detention, saying the two would be deported 'for applying for tourist visas under false pretenses.'

'Huwaida Arraf and Radhika Sainath arrived in Bahrain in the last few days and obtained tourist visas upon arrival at the airport,' the government said in a statement. 'However, once in Bahrain, they declared their intentions to join demonstrations in order to report on them. Arraf and Sainath were picked up at an illegal demonstration in Manama this afternoon.'

A website that the activists had set up under the name witnessbahrain.org to report their observations was also blocked by the authorities.

During Saturday's demonstrations, police fired tear-gas and sound-grenades in an attempt to clear the protesters from the market area.

According to the opposition, more then 60 people have been killed since the protests broke out last year. The death toll includes at least four people who have died in police custody.

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