MANAMA, Bahrain - Nervous shop owners closed their doors and security forces fanned out across Bahrain’s capital Thursday in attempts to quell widening unrest that threatened to overshadow the return of the Formula One Grand Prix to the Gulf kingdom.
Sporadic clashes, including riot police firing tear gas and stun grenades at protesters, broke out even as authorities tried to present a sense of stability before Sunday’s race. Bahrain called off the competition last year amid unrest in a sharp blow to the country’s Sunni rulers, who are facing an uprising by the island nation’s Shi’ite majority.
Two members of one of the F1 teams, Force India, decided to leave Bahrain after a team vehicle was caught in a traffic jam Wednesday because of a hurled firebomb. The lockdown atmosphere in parts of the capital, Manama, also spread to key tourist districts, including the main gold market, which normally would be bustling with visitors in town for F1.
Most shops in the gold market were shuttered and stores in other shopping areas closed early because of fears of clashes spilling into the narrow streets.
Nearly 50 people have been killed since February 2011 in violence between security forces and protesters from Bahrain’s Shi’ite majority, which seeks to break the near-monopoly on power held by the island nation’s Sunni monarchy.
Shi’ites account for about 70 percent of Bahrain’s population but say they face widespread discrimination in the strategic kingdom, which is home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet. The Sunni leaders have offered some reforms, but the opposition says they fall short of their demands.