Bahrain F1 ends without disruption despite protests

DUBAI - Agence France-Presse

Riot police run toward Bahraini anti-government protesters during clashes in Daih, Bahrain, on Saturday, April 20, 2013. AP Photo

Police clashed with Shiite demonstrators on Sunday only hours ahead of Bahrain's Formula One, but a massive security presence prevented any disruption to the race itself as Sebastian Vettel took the chequered flag.
 
The Grand Prix was overshadowed by sometimes bloody clashes away from the circuit which dragged Formula One bosses into controversy for a second year in a row.
 
Police have fired birdshot and tear gas to contain simmering resentment at a deadly crackdown by the Sunni royal family on Arab Spring-inspired protests that erupted in 2011 led by the kingdom's Shiite Muslim majority.
 
On Sunday, masked youths set alight tyres on roads in Shiite villages just outside Manama, but access remained open to the Sakhir circuit, south of the capital, witnesses reported.
 
Police fired tear gas on Saturday night to disperse demonstrators in Shiite villages who chanted against the "race of blood," said the witnesses.
 
Armoured security vehicles, police cars and armed guards at road blocks decorated the route into Sakhir in the morning.
 
Queues at the circuit confirmed a heavy security presence as every vehicle slowed to pass through a single file inspection by gun-carrying security guards.
 
"Police are out in force to beef up security measures at the Bahrain International Circuit," said Major General Tariq Hassan, the country's public security chief.
 
"Security forces are deployed in all regions countrywide, undertaking pre-emptive and precautionary measures to ensure citizens and residents' safety and security and protect public and private properties." Hundreds of Shiite demonstrators who attempted on Saturday evening to reach Manama's Pearl square, the epicentre of 2011 protests, were forcibly dispersed.
 
Police fired tear gas and some protesters retaliated with petrol bombs.
 
Hundreds had also taken to the streets of Shiite villages overnight Friday, prompting clashes.
 
"Your race is a crime," chanted protesters armed with petrol bombs and stones. "No, no to the race of blood." Police responded with tear gas and stun grenades.
 
The scenes have renewed pressure on motor racing bosses over their decision to keep Bahrain on the Formula One calendar despite similar disturbances that clouded the event last year.
 
On the track, defending triple world champion Vettel extended his lead in this year's title race when he claimed an impressive victory for Red Bull.
 
Talking to F1 reporters at Sakhir on Saturday, Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa admitted there were "issues" affecting the kingdom, which was rocked by deadly unrest in the 1990s and has been hit by disturbances for the past two years.
 
He dismissed criticism that Bahrain was exploiting the Grand event in a bid to boost its image and economy.
 
"We've never used this race to say that everything's fine," said Prince Salman. "We recognise there are issues in the country but they are to be solved in a political process which is well underway." The prince, regarded as a moderate, said he was "optimistic" a settlement could be reached with the Shiite-led opposition and acknowledged protesters against the race had largely refrained from violence.
 
"I think they were largely peaceful -- people expressing their rights to disagree," he said.
 
Human rights groups say the political violence in Bahrain has killed at least 80 people since 2011.
 
Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone said, however, that it was not for the sport to take a moral stand.
 
"We're not here, or we don't go anywhere, to judge how a country is run," Ecclestone told the BBC.
 
"Human rights are that the people that live in a country abide by the laws of that country," he said. "So it's a case of whatever the laws are in a country. People need to respect them." Strategically located just across the Gulf from Iran, Bahrain is home base for the US Fifth Fleet and also a major offshore financial and services centre for its Arab neighbours in the oil-rich Gulf.