Slaughter in Bahrain – Nerve Gas Used against Protesters by Finian Cunningham « Dandelion Salad http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/slaughter-in-bahrain-nerve-gas-used-against-protesters-by-finian-cunningham/

Ahmed Farhan was just one of several Bahrainis killed yesterday by state forces that went on a murderous rampage in mainly Shia towns and villages deemed to be supportive of the popular uprising against the autocratic US-backed regime headed by King Hamad al-Khalifa.Another doctor said: “This is all-out war against civilians who are simply demanding democracy.”As hundreds of injured were ferried along the corridors of the hospital, there was an atmosphere of dread among medics that the Persian Gulf island regime had lost all restraint under international law.Yesterday’s violence came after a weekend of mayhem unleashed by state forces, which saw as many as 1,000 civilians injured by live fire, rubber bullets and, according to senior consultants, the deployment of illegal nerve poisons.“What we are seeing are crimes against humanity,” said a facial surgeon.There is little doubt among medics and anti-government protesters that the regime received clearance from political allies in Washington, London and the other Gulf states to step up its four-week old repression against the civilian population.“The US Fifth Fleet is only one kilometre from this hospital. One phone call and this slaughter would stop,” said Arif Rajab, a surgeon at Salmaniya.