The Bahraini government has banned all protests and public gatherings as violence between anti-government protesters and police intensifies.
The interior minister, Sheikh Rashid Al Khalifah, said protests would only be permitted once secuirty and stability were returned, and "repeated abuse" of the rights of freedom of speech and expression (ie. the protests), could not be tolerated.
Claiming that the protests were "devoid of respect and intended to humiliate", Al Khalifah said the protests "jeopardised civil peace and disturbed security and general order".
He added,
"The interior ministry has strived to tackle those violations through co-ordination with the organisers in many occasions, but they failed to control those events despite their promises"
[An] "illegal rally or gathering would be tackled through legal actions against those calling for and participating in it".
