'Saudi Arabia sends tanks to Bahrain'

Saudi tanks (file photo

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/167565.html

Saudi Arabia is sending some 30 tanks to Bahrain which were sighted late Monday along the King Fahd causeway linking the two countries, witnesses say.

Pro-democracy protests in Bahrain have shown no sign of decline after almost two weeks. The protesters are demanding the resignation of the government, constitutional reforms and the king's abdication.

Witnesses said that the causeway was blocked as "15 tank carriers carrying two tanks each were heading towards Bahrain," Egypt's al-Masry al-Youm daily reported in its latest edition.

Given the popular protests in the Persian Gulf kingdom, the transfer of the military hardware from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain seems highly unusual, commuters traveling along the 25-km causeway said.

The development follows a decision by the Bahraini military on Saturday to withdraw their vehicles out of the capital's Pearl Square after a deadly police attack on protesters, a condition the opposition had set to begin talks.

The arrival of tanks from Saudi Arabia also occurs on the eve of yet another scheduled pro-democracy rally on Tuesday organized by the Bahraini opposition and protesters in Manama's flashpoint Pearl Square.

Massive protests in Bahrain, which hosts the US Navy's Fifth Fleet in the region, have shown no sign of a decline after almost two weeks.

The protesters are demanding the resignation of the government, constitutional reforms and the king's abdication.

Fears of Saudi intervention in the ongoing Bahraini uprising first came to the fore last week when unconfirmed reports emerged on Wednesday.

Saudi officials had reportedly told US authorities that they were "prepared to intervene" should such a move prove necessary to protect Bahrain's embattled government