Saudi sends troops, Bahrain Shi'ites call it "war"

>MANAMA (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia sent troops into Bahrain on Monday to help put down weeks of protests by the Shi'ite Muslim majority, a move opponents of the Sunni ruling family on the island called a declaration of war. Analysts saw the troop movement as a mark of concern in Saudi Arabia that political concessions by Bahrain's monarchy could embolden the Saudi kingdom's own Shi'ite minority.About 1,000 Saudi soldiers entered Bahrain to protect government facilities, a Saudi official source said, a day after mainly Shi'ite protesters overran police and blocked roads."They are part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) force that would guard the government installations," the source said, referring to the six-member bloc that coordinates military and economic policy in the world's top oil-exporting region.Witnesses said the 25-km (16-mile) causeway between the two countries was closed and tanks were rolling across to Bahrain, a key U.S. ally and home of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.Analysts and diplomats say the largest contingent in any GCC force would come from Saudi Arabia, which is already worried an uprising by Bahrain's Shi'ites may inspire restive Shi'ites in its own Eastern Province, the center of the oil industry.Bahraini opposition groups including the largest Shi'ite party Wefaq said the move was an attack on defenseless citizens."We consider the entry of any soldier or military machinery into the Kingdom of Bahrain's air, sea or land territories a blatant occupation," they said in a statement."This real threat about the entry of Saudi and other Gulf forces into Bahrain to confront the defenseless Bahraini people puts the Bahraini people in real danger and threatens them with an undeclared war by armed troops."The reports come after Bahraini police clashed on Sunday with mostly Shi'ite demonstrators in one of the most violent confrontations since troops killed seven protesters last month.After trying to push back demonstrators for several hours, police backed away and youths built barricades across the highway to the main financial district of the Gulf banking hub.Those barricades were still up on Monday morning, with protesters checking cars at the entrance to the Pearl roundabout, the focal point of weeks of protests. On the other side of the same highway, police set up a roadblock preventing any cars moving from the airport toward the harbor.Police were out in force in some areas but there was no evidence of soldiers, Bahraini or otherwise in Manama."We will never leave. This is our country," said Abdullah, a protester, when asked if Saudi troops would stop them. "Why should we be afraid? We are not afraid in our country."SECTARIAN CONFLICT 1 2 Next World Bahrain Tweet this Share this Link this Digg this Email Reprints