Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry

Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry
a call to teachers to participate in a strike outside school premises on 20
February.
242. Following a meeting held in Manama, the GCC Ministers of Foreign
Affairs expressed their solidarity with the Kingdom of Bahrain and their
support for the measures announced in HM King Hamad’s speech of 15
February.
Friday, 18 February 2011
243. The level of violence and the intensity of confrontations between
security forces and protesters increased and spread to more parts of Bahrain
on 18 February. This was fuelled by heightened public anger over the
fatalities of the previous day.
244. The earliest recorded acts of violence on this day occurred at 04:00 in
A’Ali, where unidentified persons set fire to lamp posts on the Sheikh Zayed
Road. Later in the day, barricades made of garbage dumpsters and rocks
reportedly blocked numerous streets and alleyways in Al Diraz. Tyres were
burned and used to block traffic on the King Faisal Highway in the vicinity of
the Diplomat Hotel, and around 30 individuals set up checkpoints close to the
Dairy Queen restaurant in the Gufool district. Similar incidents were reported
on the King Abdulaziz and Budaiya Roads.
245. Earlier that morning, mourners had gathered at the SMC morgue in
preparation for the release of the bodies of the individuals killed the previous
day. The bodies were released to the families of the victims at 08:20. Later
that day, a gathering of almost 1,500 people was reported in Daih to
commemorate the first fatality of the events, Mr Ali Almeshaima. Around
1,000 of those individuals subsequently marched to the Jidhafs cemetery
where Mr Almeshaima is buried.
246. At around 09:30, a close associate and adviser to HRH the Crown
Prince, Mr Zayed Al-Zayani, met representatives of Al Wefaq including
Sheikh Ali Salman in a bid to calm the situation. Mr Zayani informed the Al
Wefaq leadership that his aim was to reduce tensions on the streets and to
commence discussions with the political parties in the country. He also
encouraged Al Wefaq to suspend its calls for a major demonstration scheduled
for the next day in order to avoid confrontations with security forces. Sheikh
Ali Salman outlined the demands of Al Wefaq relating to the political
situation. These demands included organising a meeting between the Crown
Prince and the largest opposition political societies with which Al Wefaq was
coordinating its positions, including the Wa’ad society. Sheikh Ali Salman
also demanded that the Constitution be redrafted to grant the Council of
Representatives greater power and that the GoB and opposition agree on a
roadmap for solving other political, economic and social problems in Bahrain.
He added that Al Wefaq wanted to discuss the modalities of the peaceful
transfer of power that would eventually lead to an elected Prime Minister
within 12-16 years.
247. Meanwhile, the leading Shia cleric in Bahrain, Sheikh Issa Qassim,
gave his Friday prayer sermon focusing on the events of the previous day. He
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