THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Bahrain has risked further inflaming tensions after recent unrest by sentencing to death four protesters whose car ran over and killed two police officers.
The four were all from the island kingdom's Shia majority, which has led protests against the rule of the Sunni Muslim monarchy.
The Shia complain they suffer discrimination and are excluded from the best jobs in Bahrein, as well as being condemned by the election system to a minority voice in the country's parliament.
A report on the state news agency website confirmed that the four, named as Ali Abdullah Hassan al-Singees, 21, Qasim Hasan Matar Ahmad, 20, Saeed Abduljalil Saeed, 20, and Abdulaziz Abdulridha Ibrahim Husain, 25, had been found guilty of murder by the National Safety Lower Court. Three other men were sentenced to life in prison.
The state of national safety is the government's term for a state of emergency imposed when troops were sent in to clear public squares occupied by protesters last month.
The report described the deaths of the two officers as "one of the most gruesome murders in Bahrain". It was captured on camera, and videotapes were shown to the court. » | Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Thursday, April 28, 2011
