+Bahrain Protest
AP-APTN-0930: +Bahrain Protest
Sunday, 20 February 2011
STORY:+Bahrain Protest- WRAP Teachers on strike ADDS people at Pearl square continue protest
LENGTH: 02:30
FIRST RUN: 0930
RESTRICTIONS: AP Clients Only
TYPE: English/Arabic/Natsound
SOURCE: AP TELEVISION
STORY NUMBER: 676442
DATELINE: Manama - 20 Feb 2011
LENGTH: 02:30
AP TELEVISION - AP CLIENTS ONLY
SHOTLIST:
(FIRST RUN 0530 NEWS UPDATE - 20 FEBRUARY 2011)
+++EARLY MORNING SHOTS++
1. Wide of Manama skyline, Pearl Monument in background, at early morning
2. Mid of tents at Pearl Monument roundabout
3. Wide of people sleeping on carpets in tent
4. Close of sleeping man
5. Wide of protesters chanting, UPSOUND: (English) "Get out Hamad"
6. Wide, low angle of stage with speaker talking into megaphone
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Amar al-Mubarak, Bahraini anti-government protester:
"We slept on wet ground, the weather is so cold, we slept with nothing on the ground, just our clothes we wear right now."
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Salim al-Araj, Bahraini anti-government protester:
"As you see here, there was ladies with their kids and families here. We are not just gentlemen here. Everybody is staying here."
++NEW
(FIRST RUN 0930 AMERICAS PRIME NEWS - 20 FEBRUARY 2011)
9. Various of protesters waving flags, chanting and marching to Pearl Monument roundabout
10. Tracking shot of Bahrain flag being carried
11. Close of women protesters
12. Wide of Manama skyline showing Pearl Monument
13. Wide of marching protesters arriving at Pearl roundabout
14. Various of protesters walking
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Vox pop, Khalid Ahmed, protester:
"These people, they are trying to say whatever they want to say to this government."
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Vox pop, Hussain Sultan, protester:
"They have to, they have to leave Bahrain. They have to leave Bahrain. There is no chance (for them) to live here in Bahrain, after what happened here in the square."
17. Mid, tilt up from protesters to Pearl Monument
(FIRST RUN 0830 EUROPE PRIME NEWS - 20 FEBRUARY 2011)
18. Wide exterior of Sanabis Intermediate Girls School
19. Sign above doorway reading: 'Sanabis Intermediate Girls School'
20. Group of teachers demonstrating outside school building
21. Placard reading: (Arabic) "Sit in! Sit in! Until the regime is toppled"
22. Mid shot, teachers demonstrating
23. Close shot, teacher
24. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Samira Hamad, teacher at Sanabis Intermediate Girls School
"The purpose of this sit-in is to show our unity with the Bahraini people in order to achieve our demands."
25. Various, empty classroom and desks
26. Bahraini flag on wall with slogan reading: (Arabic) "You are in my heart Bahrain"
STORYLINE:
Bahrain's opposition leaders gathered on Sunday to examine offers for talks by Bahrain's rulers after nearly a week of protests and deadly clashes that have sharply divided the strategic Gulf nation.
No violence was reported on Sunday, but many parts of the country were paralyzed by a general strike called by opposition groups and workers' unions.
Anti-government protests continued nevertheless in the nation's capital Manama, but the streets in the tiny island kingdom were calmer as efforts shifted toward possible political haggling over demands for the monarchy to give up its near-absolute control over key policies and positions.
Hundreds of protesters spent the night back in Manama's Pearl Square after the withdrawal on Saturday of security forces, a day after firing on marchers trying to reach the site - seen as the symbolic centre of the protest movement.
At sunrise on Sunday, many were still sleeping after a long day of protests which saw jubilant demonstrators reclaim a landmark they had previously used as a focal point for anti-government protests, but which was then taken back by security forces.
But some protesters woke early, and by 6am (0300 GMT) a few dozen were demonstrating, chanting "Get out Hamad", calling on King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to leave.
The calls against the king and his inner circle were a recent escalation in the political uprising, which began with calls to weaken the Sunni monarchy's power and address claims of discrimination against the Shiite majority, but hardened after the authorities' brutal crackdowns on unarmed demonstrators on Thursday and Friday.
Teenager Amar al-Mubarak, draped in a Bahrain flag, was one of those who spent the night at Pearl Monument.
"We slept on wet ground," he said, "we slept with nothing on the ground, just our clothes."
Many of the demonstrators marching on Sunday were striking teachers.
When the teachers reached Pearl Square, they received a round of applause from thousands of other protesters already gathered there.
"These people, they are trying to say whatever they want to say to this government" said one man, as he watched the protest march.
In Pearl Square, local resident Hussain Sultan echoed the chants of the marchers by saying that after violence this week, he did not believe the royal family could stay in the country any longer.
"They have to leave Bahrain," he said. "There is no chance (for them) to live here in Bahrain".
At the Sanabis Intermediate Girls School meanwhile, in the city's Sanabis neighbourhood, about ten teachers demonstrated outside empty classrooms.
The group displayed anti-government placards, one of which read: "Sit in! Sit in! Until the regime is toppled".
One of the teachers, Samira Hamad, said "The purpose of this sit-in is to show our unity with the Bahraini people in order to achieve our demands."
Bitterness and tensions still run deep in the island nation following seesaw battles that included riot police opening fire on protesters trying to reclaim Pearl Square and then pulling back to allow them to occupy the site.
At least seven people have been killed and hundreds injured since the Arab wave for change reached the Gulf on February 14.
Bahrain's rulers appear desperate to open a political dialogue after sharp criticism from Western allies and statements by overseers of next month's Formula One race
that the unrest could force the cancellation of Bahrain's premier international event.
Bahrain holds particular importance to Washington as the host of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, which is the main US military counterweight to Iran's efforts to expand its
armed forces and reach into the Gulf.
Bahrain's ruling Sunni dynasty has strong backing from other Gulf Arab leaders, who fear that Shiite powerhouse Iran could gain further footholds through the uprising led by Bahrain's Shiite majority.
A leader of the main Shiite political bloc, Abdul-Jalil Khalil, said the opposition is considering the monarchy's offer for dialogue, but he noted that no direct talks were
yet under way.
The protest demands include abolishing the monarchy's privileges to set policies and appoint all key political posts and address long-standing claims of discrimination
and abuses against Shiites, who represents about 70 percent of Bahrain's 525-thousand citizens.
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APTN
APEX 02-20-11 0549EST