DUBAI: Bahrain yesterday banned all protests and gatherings to ensure “security is maintained”, after a spate of clashes between Shia-led demonstrators and security forces in the country. Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa said the ban was aimed at safeguarding “civil peace”. He stressed opposition protests led by the Shia movement Al-Wefaq had been marred by “acts of sabotage” and that the demonstrators had threatened national security by calling “for the overthrow of the government”. 

the Peninsula/AFP