The troop
movement was confirmed by the state-run Bahrain News Agency.
Witnesses said a convoy
of 150 armored troop carriers and about 50 other lightly
armed vehicles crossed the bridge linking Saudi Arabia to
the tiny island kingdom, and a Saudi security official told
The Associate Press that the troops were there to protect
critical buildings and installations like oil facilities.
However, witnesses later said that the convoy seemed to
be heading for Riffa, a Sunni area that is home to the royal
family and a military hospital that is closed to the public,
Reuters reported.
The opposition statement
said it considered the arrival of any soldier or military
vehicle “an overt occupation of the kingdom of Bahrain
and a conspiracy against the unarmed people of Bahrain.”
|
