Angry Arabiya Reports from Bahrain

By John Ballard

Angry Arabiya is among the handful of Twitter feeds I track,  a candid, colorful individual who counts a number of journalists among her four thousand plus followers. Here is a fresh snapshot of the situation in Bahrain since Saudi Arabian forces appeared a couple days ago.

To set the scene, check this article from yesterday's Christian Science Monitor.

For now, Saudi Arabia's decision to send 1,000 troops to Bahrain under the aegis of the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) is most likely a protective, albeit provocative, measure � one Sunni monarch helping another, says Michael C. Hudson, director of the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore.

�It's not [that] other countries are coming to the rescue,� says Dr. Hudson, who was on his way to Bahrain Tuesday. �It's like other families coming to the rescue. It's symbolic.�

While both Arab and Iranian leaders may seek to influence the outcome in Bahrain, ultimately the central tension is between the tiny nation's ruling Khalifa family and an increasingly resolute protest movement.

�The main issue is that [the] Khalifas have been extremely poor managers of their country,� says Jean-Fran�s Seznec, a professor at Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. "They have promised reform for many, many years and never delivered."

He called the Saudi troop presence on Bahrain soil a "terrible mistake" and, while only a symbolic gesture, one that will likely escalate tensions between the protesters and Bahrain's ruling Sunni family.

�It could have been solved very easily by having the Shiite liberals and Sunni liberals come together with the crown prince to establish a constitutional monarchy,� he adds. Bahrain, key US ally, declares state of emergency.

The protests started in earnest Feb. 14 as Bahrain's Shiites rallied against widespread discrimination. Bahraini security forces responded violently, shooting and beating protesters. Since then the calls have been to topple the entire ruling monarchy.

Yesterday, Saudi Arabia sent its troops together with 800 police from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Bahrain on Monday to help the government deal with weeks of unrest in the tiny island nation. Bahrain's king went on state television today and declared a three-month state of emergency to deal with the uprising.

Located just offshore Saudi Arabia's oil-rich east, Bahrain has some oil facilities of its own and is host to a US naval base and other installations crucial to American military operations in the Persian Gulf.

Our observer comments, its an article bout wat ur talkin bout, not sure how true but interesting...Goodnight every1, thx 4 all who r trying to help us. Plz do all u can for my ppl and country & keep us in ur prayers. love from Bahrain...not easy 2 sleep peacefully with sound of helicopters outside, but I'll try. Tc

That was eight hours ago and she was turning in for some sleep.
Three hours later we see this:

woke up hearing screams, ppl screaming. I can see army outside my window. some1 shouting out of mosque speakers that lulu has been attacked   [Lulu is the local name for Pearl Roundabout. JB]
I see ppl walking towards lulu crying, whole country is weeping.
I hear shots. my brothers at lulu r prolly getting massacred!
no phones are working, cant call any1. I think they cut the phone lines
Army firing from the highway near burgerland on ppl. shots fired.

I'm outside, ppl screamin allahu akbar. Lulu is a 10min walk from here, but we're surrounded
Ppl tellin me live bullets have been shot at them, not letting them leave our village 2 go 2 their brothers @ lulu mobile phones r dead.
only land lines working.

An old woman standing on street cryin "if ull kill my sons kill me 2 Alkhalifa!"
HELP BAHRAIN, they've closed our phone lines, reaching out thru twitter. They wanna commit a massacre. HELP MY PEOPLE! Ppl standing infront of army shouting allah akbar with their arms raised

They're shooting at us. I don't kno if u can see the soldiers who r shooting at us
shot fired now. sounds like a machine gun coming from the tanks.

Some1 yellin stop shooting atr women, don't u have wives, go back to ur country
One man in the front "we are brothers, don't shoot us, we r sacrificing for u"
riot police are here, they are firing tear gas on gathered ppl

if you look into the sky, its like a warzone, 10s of helicopters circulating bahrain.
The army couldnt shoot at us, we stood with flowers and told them we're brothers.
They aimed their guns at us, we asked them "how cud u live with urself if u kill unarmed ppl" They cudnt shoot us.

One of soldiers started talking to us and saying yes we're brothers plz go home, we dont want to shoot you but we have to.
They still couldn't shoot us, they aimed and looked at us but dint shoot.

then riot police attacked us, they dint even stop to hear us. They just attacked.
The army retreated and the riot police attacked with live bullets, tear gas, and shot gun

my father has a birdshot gun sharpnel in his face
We ran home when riot police attacked. I can still see them outside my window, hope they dont attack our house.

@YaAbalFazl birdshot gun shrapnel is not a big deal, especially when live bullets are being shot, I'm glad hez ok.

I still hear ppl shouting allah akbar outside, I think I'll go out again.
The birdshot gun shrapnel is not dangerous unless you get alot all over ur body or it goes in too deep. thank God my father is ok.

@abisalem I ran becuz my father wudnt leave unless i left, he stood infront of me to protect me, I dint wanna see him die.
@Faisal_BHR we must break the national "safety" law, they're attacking our brothers in lulu!
I hear shots outside now!

The front line of unarmed protesters facing soldiers

My father standin infront of the girls with riot police behind him  http://yfrog.com/h7j7gkjj
R1eports of two women shot in Naim & urgently require ambulance opposite Huttain school (house number 1777)

frnd @ medical center: most injuries r from live ammo & some from birdshot gun. The injured have been shot in their arms, legs & shoulders
frnd @ medical center: person shot in shoulder is in critical condition & needs an operation. They dont have proper operation capabilities

Gov prolly planting weapons on lulu and filming them 2 claim we are armed. Nobody believes ur lies! http://yfrog.com/h4n81oxj
According to trolls I am a liar, and the reason they say is that lying is part of my shia religion.

Since morning all our cell phones havnt been working, now 1 out of every 10 calls go thru. Landlines and inernet work

dr. from SMH says riot police n BTV r plantin weapons in cars by hospital & filming. She filmed video but was caught n phone confiscated.
now receiving msgs that there is a march, from all villages to Dawar algadam, starting at 3:30. my ppl r unarmed but they r brave.

riot po. shooting protester http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/03/16/bahrain-a-full-scale-attack/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
all he had was a flag, they attack a young man standing alone with a flag! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qglJO8Ly6I (vid taken 2 days ago)

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This last tweet was sent half an hour ago at this writing. This is a very prolific writer and she will be sending messages all day long.

I am in awe of the courage of the young people of this region. Unlike many of my fellow Americans indifferent to the circumstances slowly pulling them down, they have no illusions that their situation may be bad but allowing it to continue unchallenged is unacceptable.

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Here is the link to hashtag #Lulu
where you wil find the most recent Twitter messages and posted links, including links to You Tube videos.
The first three items are "Top Tweets" -- those which have been retweeted most but not the most recent which appear after theTop Tweets.