Bahraini protesters demand release of activists Thu Nov 23, 2:04 PM ET
Bahraini police dispersed a small group of protesters who gathered in Manama to demand the release of two activists detained a week ago.
Some 50 people, including relatives of the pair arrested on November 16 and leaders of the Shiite-led opposition group Haq, rallied for about an hour before police ordered them to disperse, a participant said.
Haq said last week that authorities had arrested two of its activists. They were Mohammed Said, one of the signatories of a recent petition to King Hamad demanding a probe into an alleged plot to marginalize Bahrain's Shiite majority, and Hussein Abdul Aziz al-Habshi.
Haq organized a rally in Manama on November 17 to press for an inquiry. Another rally has been called by Haq and other activists for Friday.
The group, which also includes Sunni opposition figures, has written to UN chief Kofi Annan urging a probe into the purported conspiracy by some figures in Bahrain's Sunni-led government to rig legislative elections scheduled for Saturday and marginalize Shiites.
The plot allegations were made in a controversial report by purported British spy Salah al-Bandar, who said he exposed a secret organization operating within the government to "deprive an essential part of the population of this country of their rights" -- an allusion to Shiites.
Sudanese-born Bandar was an adviser on "strategic security" to the Bahraini government, which expelled him from the country in September and subsequently accused him of spying.
Bahrain's high court has banned the publication of any information on the alleged plot.
An interior ministry official said the two Haq activists were arrested for possessing unlicensed leaflets "containing inflammatory material and false information liable to disrupt public order and undermine the national interest."
. Photo:Karim Sahib/AFP