Pro-Bahrain Freedom Rally Targets Saudi Embassy In Berlin

Berlin, Aug 5, IRNA -- The Saudi Arabian embassy here Saturday became once again the scene of a rally voicing solidarity with the pro-freedom movement in Bahrain. Waving Bahraini flags and holding pictures of Bahraini martyrs, protesters called for the withdrawal of Saudi troops from Bahraini soil. They condemned the ongoing brutal crackdown in Bahrain and the eastern part of Saudi Arabia. Protesters urged also the release of a top Saudi Shia cleric Ayatollah Baqir al-Nemr as well as the head of Bahrain Center for Human Rights Rajeb Nabel. The rally expressed strong support for the pro-democracy struggle in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom. International human rights groups, including Amnesty International (AI), have repeatedly highlighted Riyadh's role in squashing popular protests in Bahrain in March 2011 when it sent troops to that country. Saudi Arabia has also clamped down on its anti-government protests, killing at least seven people in anti-government protests since November 2011. Bahrain has witnessed numerous violent pro-democracy protests as dozens of people have been killed by Bahraini security forces since the outbreak of mass protests in the Arab country in early 2011. Human right organizations have lambasted the West for keeping silent on reports that Bahrain's Sunni-led government is waging a violent and bloody crackdown — destroying Shiite mosques, illegally detaining and torturing dissidents, attacking medical personnel to prevent them from treating wounded protesters, abusing women and girls, and expelling media representatives from the country./end