The world is watching uprising spreading throughout the Arab world but the unrest in Bahrain is different than the rest. In this country the majority is Shiite Muslim, nearly three in four. However the monarch is Sunni and that seems to hold true for the general civil and military power base.
Bahrain's king has now unleashed Sunni firepower on the Shia crowd. The Telegraph reports that the Sunni forces have turned anti-aircraft guns and helicopter gunships on the demonstrators.
As security forces then began to fire anti-air craft guns over their heads and the air filled with tear gas, the protesters' will finally broke.
But even as they fled in headlong panic, a helicopter sprayed gunfire at them and more fell. Paramedics from ambulances that had rushed to the scene darted forward to help the wounded, but they too were shot at. Several were detained and at least one ambulance was impounded.
... Those caught up in the violence were mourners, returning from funerals of three people killed before dawn the previous day when police opened fire on protesters, many of whom were asleep, in a successful bid to regain control of Pearl Roundabout.
The Shia protesters say they don't want to topple their king. Instead what they're demanding is a constitutional monarchy in which they have equality with the Sunni minority.
Saudi Arabia also has a sizeable Shia population who just happen to be the majority in the area of the country's major oil fields.
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