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Bahrain grand prix protests - live updates Bahrain grand prix protests - as they happened
(40 minutes later)
11.26pm: Jonathan Miller and his Channel 4 News team have been released, minus their cameras and computers. He tweets: 9.51am: Good morning. Welcome to Middle East live. The focus today is on Bahrain where the Formula One grand prix is going ahead despite a growing international outcry.
I've been released with my crew. Breakneck drive to Bahrain airport in police van. Being deported now.
— Jonathan Miller (@millerC4) April 22, 2012
My driver and dr Ala'a shebahi, the activist I was with during police chase are still in detention. We are assured they will be freed soon
— Jonathan Miller (@millerC4) April 22, 2012
11.13pm: Here is a summary of developments over the course of Sunday:
Bahrain
• The controversial Formula One grand prix passed without incident but a group of women reportedly held a protest inside the Bahrain International Circuit. The women were reportedly arrested and one was said to have been beaten, according to activists, but the Guardian cannot independently verify this. Attendance at the race was low according to people at the circuit
• Protests have also been reported outside the circuit, including in Abu Saiba, Bilad al-Qadim, Jidhafs and Sitra. Pictures were posted online purportedly showing use of teargas against protesters and armoured cars on the streets.
• A Channel 4 News team led by foreign affairs correspondent Jonathan Miller were arrested by Bahraini authorities.
The authorities have prevented a number of other news journalists from covering events over the weekend by refusing them entry, but Miller said his team had come in "under the radar" and had been filming discreetly without accreditation.
He expected to be deported but, citing the poor human rights record of Bahrain's police, expressed concern about the welfare of the team's local driver.
• The Sunday Telegraph's chief foreign correspondent, Colin Freeman and his fixer, Mohammed Hasan, have been taken to a police station in Bahrain. Alex Spillius, from the Telegraph's foreign desk, said: "They were told there were in an area where there have been illegal demonstrations." Hassan is a well-known fixer who was only released from jail yesterday after being arrested on Friday night and allegedly beaten by security forces.
• Ala'a Shehabi, an activist who met Bernie Ecclestone earlier this year to try to persuade him to call off the Bahrain GP, said she in a Tweet that she has been arrested.
Syria
• Syrian soldiers stormed the Damascus suburb of Douma, and rebels bombed a military convoy in Aleppo, in the north of the country, as international mediator Kofi Annan urged both sides to work with an expanding team of UN ceasefire monitors. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces killed at least 12 people on Sunday, six of them in Homs province. The others were killed when security forces opened fire in the northern province of Idlib and when soldiers backed by tanks charged into Douma, it said. At least four soldiers were killed when a bomb hit an armoured personnel carrier outside Douma, it added.
• Ceasefire monitors visited Rastan, a rebel-held town south of Hama, according to activists. An amateur video posted online showed two white UN vehicles driving in Rastan accompanied by a red pick up truck with the words "Free Army" written on it. Other videos showed two UN monitors wearing blue helmets and body armor touring Rastan along with officers from the rebel Free Syrian Army who point to damaged buildings and a large crowd of people shouting "Bye Bye Bashar!" and "The people want to topple the regime." In Hama, activists said soldiers opened fire to prevent a crowd from meeting the observers in the city's main square. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the city.
10.20pm: Britain's Foreign Secretary, William Hague, has also used twitter to react to the arrest of the Channel 4 crew:
Very concerned about detention of Channel 4 journalists in #Bahrain. Our Embassy is seeking urgent consular access
— William Hague (@WilliamJHague) April 22, 2012
9.55pm: Bahrain's Foreign Minister, Khalid Alkhalifa, has been tweeting about the arrest of the Channel 4 crew:
Channel 4 news crew admit to working without accreditation .. Not acceptable . Laws of the land should be respectedht.ly/armjO
— Khalid Alkhalifa (@khalidalkhalifa) April 22, 2012
8.38pm: Here is a link to an interview Channel 4 News' Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Jonathan Miller, gave to Channel 4 News earlier this evening after he and his crew were arrested.
Speaking from a police landrover as they made their way to a police station, Miller said they had been filming in a shia village earlier today, where residents have been demonstrating on a daily basis.
Miller said his crew had been operating without accreditation, adding: "We came under the rader and had been filming discreetly."
"Basically we had been lucky until then we were actually heading back to where we are staying to edit the piece we had collated for tonight, which was quite strong actually."
The authorities had been very unpleasant towards the crew and he was particularly worried for their Bahraini driver, who he had hired to drive them around and who had willingly taken up the job. The record of the Bahraini police gave his crew major cause for concern about the fate that might now await their driver.
"Unfortunately this country does not invite very many journalists in to cover things here," he added.
"They want coverage of the Grand Prix and not much else, Sports journalists, you may have noticed, from other channels have ended up doing some of the political reporting."
8.23pm: Ruwayda Mustafah, British-Kurdish writer based in London, tweets:
My friend @alaashehabi has been arrested in Bahrain earlier today, reportedly for showing journalists around. No word from her yet!
— Ruwayda Mustafah (@RuwaydaMustafah) April 22, 2012
8.17pm: Blogger Lulu Avenue tweets:
#F1 event finished but shooting still going in villages , hope media will pay more attention to Human rights violation in #Bahrain
— Lulu Avenue (@LuluAvenue) April 22, 2012
8.14pm: Now the race has finished, Formula One and Bahrain must start to recover from what has been a PR disaster, Paul Weaver, Formula One correspondent for the Guardian.
He writes from Bahrain:
At the track the atmosphere was almost surreal. Bonkers, a clown flown in from the UK, entertained spectators, and there was a military march-past, like a flexed muscle before an imaginary foe. Bad things were happening out there, but not at the Bahrain international circuit.
Before the cars screamed into action Bernie Ecclestone, the commercial rights holder, and Zayed Al Zayani, the chairman of the circuit, visited the media centre to lecture journalists.
Ecclestone, so often the panto villain in this noisy and far travelling production, told us what a great country Bahrain was and how we would all be back here next year. Al Zayani looked a little more relaxed after it was all over. "The excitement and quality of the racing is a fitting conclusion to another enthralling weekend of racing at the BIC."
He did, though, give some seriously implausible figures. He claimed that 28,000 spectators attended the race, even though the empty stands suggested that Bahrain had voted with it's weary feet. It was claimed that 70,000 had come to the three days of racing, surely another gross exaggeration.
8.07pm: The US ambassador to Yemen has said that a recent military shake-up has improved the fight against al-Qaida, which has taken advantage of internal turmoil to overrun parts of the country's south.
Ambassador Gerald Feierstein also told reporters in the capital, Sanaa, that Washington is concerned about Yemeni officials who resist reforms ordered by the new president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. He replaced longtime ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh after a year of demonstrations and unrest.
The Associated Press reports:
Yemen's army has gone on the offensive against al-Qaida's dangerous Yemen branch in the south after Hadi made the announcements that replaced Saleh loyalists with new officials. Feierstein praised the new leadership.
"We have begun to see in the past few days ... a strategy to challenge al-Qaida in ways they have not done in the past months," he said.
In his more than 30 years in power, Saleh stacked key security and government posts with relatives and cronies. One of Hadi's main challenges is weeding them out as part of urgently needed reforms in the fight against al-Qaida.
On Sunday, the army fought al-Qaida militants for a second day in the outskirts of Zinjibar, the capital city of the southern province of Abyan. The city was overrun by al-Qaida last year. The military offensive there is the first on the city in months.
Security officials said army shelling killed five al-Qaida militants just outside another city in Abyan on Sunday, where the group has been clashing with soldiers and residents for almost two weeks. Militants want to capture the city of Lawder and the strategic road it controls, about 250 kilometers (150 miles) southeast of the capital.
8.05pm: A Channel 4 News spokesman has told the Press Association: "We can confirm that our foreign affairs correspondent Jonathan Miller and his team have been arrested whilst reporting for the programme from a village in Bahrain."
"Our primary concern is for the safety of the team, and we are working with the appropriate authorities to secure a swift release."
"We are also working hard to establish the whereabouts of the driver who was assaulted and separated from the group."
7.59pm: Tough security enabled today's race in Bahrain to go ahead in Manama, but have opponents claimed moral victory, reports the Guardian's Middle East editor, Ian Black:
Nearby villages were described as being under "undeclared curfew". Witnesses said police broke up any sign of flash protests and fired teargas if there were no cameras present.
Opposition activists ended the day on a defiant note, exploiting social media to publicise their cause and relishing the brief but intense international interest in Bahrain that was generated by the F1 row.
"They [the government] miscalculated," activist Ala'a Shehabi told Reuters. "They thought cancelling the race would be a defeat for them but they didn't realise the cost of holding the race. They didn't factor in the negative branding."
Shortly afterwards, Shehabi was arrested and tweeted the news to her followers as it happened.
Protesters tried to organise a march to Pearl roundabout in downtown Manama, the centre of last year's Arab spring unrest in the country, but activists who managed to evade police checkpoints were quickly arrested.
7.55pm: The result today on the Grand Prix track is far from the minds of many following events in Bahrain but, for the record, it was won by Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel.
Reuters reports that the race passed off in front of half-empty stands and that oficials put spectator numbers at 28,000 in a circuit that can hold 45,000.
Vettel said shortly after arrival on Thursday that he thought much of what was being reported was hype and wanted to focus on "stuff that really matters - tyre temperatures, cars".
After the race, he appeared relieved. "It was a difficult race, extremely tough," said the 24-year-old German, who closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he stood on the podium.
7.44pm: Channel 4 News' Head of Foreign News Ben De Pear has also been tweeting:
Team arrested, surrounded by masked men and the driver assaulted taken away separately, last seen bleeding from his arms and we v concerned
— benc4fored (@bendepear) April 22, 2012
7.34pm: A team from Channel 4 News has been arrested in Bahrain, according to the channel.
Amy Lawson, head of communications for Channel 4 News at ITN, has tweeted:
A Channel 4 News team has been arrested in Bahrain. We have been in contact with them & are v concerned for the welfare of their driver(1/2)
— Amy Lawson (@amyllawson) April 22, 2012
he was assaulted and separated from the group. we are working with the authorities. interview with Jonathan Miller on our website soon (2/2)
— Amy Lawson (@amyllawson) April 22, 2012
7.29pm: Good evening. This is Ben Quinn taking over the blog now.
Some news first from Egypt, where the country's former foreign minister, who is also a leading contender for the presidency, has said he would give the military a voice in key policies via a national security council.
The comments by Amr Moussa, reports the Associated Press news agency, is a move to reassure ruling generals about their status after a power transfer.
Moussa, a self-described liberal nationalist whose main election rivals are Islamists, also said Egypt needed a president with lobbying skills to work effectively with the Islamist-dominated parliament and other institutions after decades of autocratic government.
Egypt's presidential vote that starts on May 23-24 will mark the final stage of a transition to civilian rule from generals who took charge after Hosni Mubarak was ousted last year.
5.07pm: Here's a recap of the main developments so far today:
BahrainBahrain
• The controversial Formula One grand prix passed without incident but a group of women reportedly held a protest inside the Bahrain International Circuit. The women were reportedly arrested and one was said to have been beaten, according to activists, but the Guardian cannot independently verify this. Attendance at the race was low according to people at the circuit • The grand prix is set to go ahead amid intensifired criticism of the staging of the race in the Gulf state following the discovery of the body of a protester allegedly abducted from a village by security forces. According to the opposition party Wefaq, the body of 36-year-old Salah Abbas Habib Musa, a father of five, was found on a rooftop in the Shia village of Shakhoura the day before the race. Pictures of Habib's body shown on Bahraini television appeared different to a long-lens shot of his body taken from a neighbouring roof just after the body's discovery (warning: graphic), suggesting that sticks had been placed around his body and a catapult placed in his hand.
• Protests have also been reported outside the circuit, including in Abu Saiba, Bilad al-Qadim, Jidhafs and Sitra. Pictures were posted online purportedly showing use of teargas against protesters and armoured cars on the streets. • Nabeel Rajab, one of the country's leading opposition activists, has accused the Bahraini government of holding back Habib's body to prevent his funeral coinciding with the grand prix.
• The Sunday Telegraph's chief foreign correspondent, Colin Freeman and his fixer, Mohammed Hasan, have been taken to a police station in Bahrain. Alex Spillius, from the Telegraph's foreign desk, said: "They were told there were in an area where there have been illegal demonstrations." Hassan is a well-known fixer who was only released from jail yesterday after being arrested on Friday night and allegedly beaten by security forces. Doesn't appear that the authority will hand over the body of the martyr in order not to bury him today &get exposed in front of #F1 visitors
• Ala'a Shehabi, an activist who met Bernie Ecclestone earlier this year to try to persuade him to call off the Bahrain GP, said she in a Tweet that she has been arrested. — Nabeel Rajab (@NABEELRAJAB) April 22, 2012
• Black smoke from burning tyres has been wafting over Budaiya this morning, ahead of the race, which is due to begin at 1pm BST. Budaiya, outside the capital of Manama, was the scene of mass protests on Friday.
• Fahad al Binali, spokesman for the Bahrain information affairs authority, said measures were in place to prevent any disruption to the event. He told the BBC: "Guaranteeing is difficult, but we have the best measures in place. I'm very confident and assure everybody about safety."
SyriaSyria
• Syrian soldiers stormed the Damascus suburb of Douma, and rebels bombed a military convoy in Aleppo, in the north of the country, as international mediator Kofi Annan urged both sides to work with an expanding team of UN ceasefire monitors. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces killed at least 12 people on Sunday, six of them in Homs province. The others were killed when security forces opened fire in the northern province of Idlib and when soldiers backed by tanks charged into Douma, it said. At least four soldiers were killed when a bomb hit an armoured personnel carrier outside Douma, it added. • Syrian troops stormed and shelled districts in a suburb of Damascus today, activists told AP, a day after the security council voted to expand the number of UN truce monitors to 300 members in hopes of salvaging an international peace plan marred by continued fighting between the military and opposition rebels.
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• Ceasefire monitors visited Rastan, a rebel-held town south of Hama, according to activists. An amateur video posted online showed two white UN vehicles driving in Rastan accompanied by a red pick up truck with the words "Free Army" written on it. Other videos showed two UN monitors wearing blue helmets and body armor touring Rastan along with officers from the rebel Free Syrian Army who point to damaged buildings and a large crowd of people shouting "Bye Bye Bashar!" and "The people want to topple the regime." In Hama, activists said soldiers opened fire to prevent a crowd from meeting the observers in the city's main square. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the city.

Douma-based activist Mohammed Saeed said two people were killed by indiscriminate firing in the sprawling district, the scene of intense clashes between rebels and security forces before a cease-fire went into effect more than a week ago.
4.41pm: Opposition activist Ala'a Shehabi, who earlier reported the detention of the Sunday Telegraph's Colin Freeman (see 3.40pm) now appears to have been arrested herself, judging from her last tweet. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based opposition group with a network of activists on the ground, confirmed the deaths. It reported that a third person was killed overnight in the village of Hteita outside Damascus when troops opened fire from a checkpoint.
Under arrest. Surrounded by It was not immediately clear what prompted the attack on Douma. Saeed said loud explosions that shook the city early Sunday caused panic among residents, some of whom used mosque loudspeakers to urge people to take cover in basements and in lower floors of apartment buildings.
/>"This UN observers thing is a big joke," Saeed said. "Shelling stops and tanks are hidden when they visit somewhere, and when they leave, shelling resumes."
10.01am: The Guardian's Richard Williams writes that the furore surrounding today's race is a result of Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone's "habit of taking the money and asking no questions".
What has happened on the oil-rich island in the Persian Gulf is a direct result of the way Ecclestone has run the sport since taking control 30 years ago. His willingness to tear up its traditional roots and follow the money into new territories opened the way for an eventual collision between a spectacle whose audience is still largely European and countries with non-democratic systems of government.
Bahrain is the wrong time and the wrong place in which to maintain the pretence that sport is sport and politics is politics, and that the two have no interdependence. The country's royal family destroyed that fiction when they had posters put up around their Sakhir circuit featuring the slogan "UniF1ed – One Nation in Celebration", an explicit use of Formula One to bolster their claim to have taken steps to improve conditions for their people since the first demonstrations in March 2011, part of the "Arab spring", caused the cancellation of last year's grand prix. Amnesty International's most recent report on the situation in Bahrain calmly but remorselessly dismantled those claims ...
Ecclestone's habit of taking the money and asking no questions ensured that one day he would place the Formula One teams and their personnel in the position they now find themselves: nervous of their personal safety and uncertain how to respond to the question of whether they should be there at all. Thanks to him, a sport whose conscience was once troubled only by its environmental impact now looks like a pariah.
10.13am: The Press Association's Formula One journalist provides some sense of the extent of the security operation today - he says he has counted 86 police cars on their way to race.
On the final day of the 'count the police cars' game' heading to the track, today's grand total is 86!
— Ian Parkes (@ianparkesf1) April 22, 2012
Meanwhile, Bernie Ecclestone appears to think it appropriate to make jokes about the situation.
Mr E and BIC boss Zayed Al Zayani in media centre. Stops for pvt chat with @alanbaldwinf1 and I. Jokingly suggests 2nd race here this year.
— Ian Parkes (@ianparkesf1) April 22, 2012
10.31am: Bahrain Online claims that security forces are trying to make sure that protests cannot take place.
Regime forces blocking/quarantining a number of entrances of villages around #lulu to prevent protestors leaving the villages #Bahrain
— BahrainOnline (@ONLINEBAHRAIN) April 22, 2012
10.53am: A focus for recent protests in Bahrain has been the continued detention of leading opposition activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja (pictured below), who has been on hunger strike for 74 days.
His family and human rights groups have expressed fears that he could die. Amnesty International has called for his release, describing him as a prisoner of conscience, and the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has urged Bahrain to re-consider its refusal to allow Denmark to take custody of him (he has Danish citizenship). Khawaja was sentenced to life-imprisoment in June last year for his part in the uprising against the western-backed Sunni monarchy, on charges opposition activists and human rights groups say were trumped up.
The interior ministry has moved to dispel fears about Khawaja's health today and said the Danish ambassador would be meeting the activist.
There is no truth to rumors of the condition of Abdulhadi Al Khawaja. He is in good health & will meet Danish ambassador today at 10am #BAH
— Ministry of Interior (@moi_bahrain) April 22, 2012
11.00am: Mohamed, tweeting under the handle @almakna, has posted a picture of black smoke rising (as reported seperately by Reuters), taken by @14Feb which he says is near the hotel Formula One drivers are staying in.
Demonstators have been burning tyres to protest against the staging of the grand prix.
11.16am: Detained Bahraini opposition activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja (see 10.53am) met the Danish ambassador today but refused to take saline his wife has said (via Enduring America).
Meanwhile Khawaja's daughter Zainab (a well known blogger under the name of Angry Arabiya) was arrested yesterday after staging a sit-in on the road leading to the Formula One circuit, the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights reports.
Said Yousif, from the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, says Zainab al-Khawaja refused to go to see the public prosecutor today and is being held in jail.
11.51am: Dan Rather, one of the USA's most venerable broadcasters, reports that a Bahraini fixer, who helped with his programme has been freed after being arrested by security forces on Friday night.
After our Bahrain story aired, Mohammed Hasan, the fixer/journalist we interviewed, received threats, but continued to do interviews, including with BBC and at a press conference that Bahraini journalists had convened. On Friday night, he was helping a group of British ITN journalists who had snuck in with tourist visas. They were in a village covering a protest, and Hasan was 'ambushed' -his friend says the police came from behind and hit him with a stun grenade. He was surrounded and beaten with the back of a gun.
He was treated at a hospital and taken to a prison called Dry Dock. He has since been released and it's believed that the charges will be "participating in an illegal gathering of more than 5 people", "vandalism" and "rioting."
The state dept in Bahrain knows of his situation and and we have notified the Committee to Protect Journalists and Human Rights Watch.
11.55am: There is on just over an hour to go until the grand prix is scheduled to start but there are plenty of empty seats, according to the Press Association's Ian Parkes.
Drivers' parade taking place in front of virtually no fans in any grandstand other than the main one.
— Ian Parkes (@ianparkesf1) April 22, 2012
12.21pm: The Anonymous collective has hacked into a Formula One website in protest at the staging of the Bahrain GP. It has also published a data dump of ticket sales and attendees but it has redacted personal details to preserve privacy. The statement by Anonymous says:
How dare the government of Bahrain hide behind an international sporting event as an attempt to conceal the oppression it is committing against its own people. How dare King al-Khalifa claim that the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who march in the streets for freedom, democracy and non-sectarianism are "just a few troublemakers." How dare they waste the people's money to hire public relations firms to lie on their behalf about the crimes they're committing.
How dare the Formula One organisation allow the royal family to profit millions of dollars off of holding an event there, money which in turn is being used to purchase tear gas and live ammunition which has been used against civilians while Formula One is being held. How dare Bernie Ecclestone and the Formula One organisation condone such horrific violations of human rights in the name of profit. As a response for your callus disregard for human life we, Anonymous, are taking the liberty of educating you, your fans, and the world about the crisis in Bahrain and giving you a cyber taste of your own medicine.
To the fans of F1: You have every right to watch and enjoy your sport, but you have the responsibility to consider the ramifications of your support of this event. Please do the right thing and join the people of Bahrain in solidarity by boycotting this event. Do not watch it on television, do not visit F1 websites. Show that you do not condone racing on the blood of the innocent. Turn your eyes away from this abominable race for this one weekend to send a clear message that the fans of F1 value the rights of people more than the sick negligence of humanity.
12.46pm: @al9aaaad8 claims that the road to the race track is being blocked by protesters.
seef highway is blocked for anyone heading to #f1 circuit by protesters for over 10 mins with no traffic movement so far #bahrain
— al9aaaad8 (@al9aaaad8) April 22, 2012
The same Tweeter claims that an Indian man has been killed by teargas canisters thrown into his house by "mercenaries". The Guardian cannot independently verify this report. Opposition activists claim that a large number of the deaths since the start of the uprising have been as a result of teargas.
12.49pm: Whether it is a result of protests or not, attendance at the grand prix appears thin.
Formula One journalist Byron Young tweets this picture of the stand looking far from full.
The grandstand opposite the pits. Strangely quiet. Counting fans 1...2...3..4 twitter.com/byronf1/status…
— Byron Young (@byronf1) April 22, 2012
1.04pm: The race has started successfully.
1.12pm: A video featured on the Enduring America blog shows Bahraini protesters setting tyres on fire in the capital, Manama. They display a banner protesting agains the grand prix and calling for the release of imprisoned activist Abdulhai al-Khawaja.
It is unclear when the video was filmed.
1.20pm: Some have argued that the grand prix is actually a boon for the Bahraini opposition by drawing attention to them. But activist Mohammed Ashoor does not believe the interest will last.
The race will end soon, the global attention will leave with it, yet my people will still suffer. #Bahrain #f1 #BahrainGP
— #SaveAlKhawaja (@MohmdAshoor) April 22, 2012
1.25pm: AP reports that the Bahraini authorities are beefing up security to prevent protests during the grand prix.

Witnesses say security forces in Bahrain are setting up checkpoints and ringing armoured vehicles into anti-government strongholds to confront possible protests coinciding with the Gulf nation's Formula One Grand Prix.
1.47pm: This Guardian video shows pictures of protesters burning tyres as well as footage of Salah Abbas Habib Musa, who was found dead on Saturday. Opposition activists claim he was killed by riot police. Warning: Video contains images of a graphic nature.

Habib, 36, was a father of five.

1.56pm: Protesters are planning to march on Lulu or Pearl roundabout, Bahrain Online reports.
Pearl roundabout was the hub of last year's uprising. The giant white monument in the middle of the roundabout was destroyed by the authorities last year, as was the mound of grass that had been home to thousands for weeks.
In February last year police had carried out an early morning raid on the protest camp killing at least four people and injuring dozens.
2.20pm: Blogger Lulu Avenue says that people are preparing to march on Lulu or Pearl roundabout (see 1.56pm update) at 4.30pm (2.30pm BST) but that there is a heavy security presence.
.. @COALITION14 just announced that 4:30 everyone will be heading to #lulu #Bahrain #F1 #BahrainGP
— Lulu Avenue (@LuluAvenue) April 22, 2012
Armored vehicles & lots of police presence surrounding most of the villages right now #Bahrain #F1 #BahrainGP
— Lulu Avenue (@LuluAvenue) April 22, 2012
@COALITION14 is coalition 14 Feb, a group named after the first day of the current uprising, which began on 14 February last year.
2.38pm: Here is the poster calling for protests in Bahrain at 4.30pm today (now).
A protest is also reportedly taking place outside Bernie Ecclestone's London office now.
In #London protest , chant now1234 #F1 NO more 5678 stop the #killing stop the #hate@14FebRevolution #BahrainF1 twitter.com/ALFAYEZ313/sta…
— Ali(@ALFAYEZ313) April 22, 2012
2.40pm: The first cars have crossed the line in the Bahrain grand prix. Not all drivers have finished but the race has passed without incident so far.
2.59pm: Bahrain Online has posted a picture it says is of clashes between protesters heading for Pearl/Lulu roundabout and security forces.
It looks like teargas has been fired.
3.24pm: Opposition activists say 10 women protesters got into the Bahrain grand prix circuit. Pictures have been posted online purporting to be the women being led away by the security forces.
تم القبض على الخمينيات من قبل ألشرطه النسائيه #Bahrain #F1 twitter.com/Maj_70/status/…
— Marwa A. Mohamed ♚ (@Maj_70) April 22, 2012
Pic of the female protester being arrested by in a very brutal way in BIC Now @BahrainRights @14FebRevolution @14FebTV twitter.com/SM_ALAWI/statu…
— SAYED MOHAMED (@SM_ALAWI) April 22, 2012
3.40pm: The Sunday Telegraph's chief foreign correspondent, Colin Freeman and his fixer, Mohammed Hasan, have been taken to a police station in Bahrain.

Ala'a Shehabi, an activist, reported the news on Twitter.
Colin Freeman from Sunday Telegraph along with his fixer Mohd Hassan have been detained at checkpoint #BahrainGP #F1
— Dr Ala'a Shehabi (@alaashehabi) April 22, 2012— Dr Ala'a Shehabi (@alaashehabi) April 22, 2012
4.32pm: Said Yousif, from the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, has posted pictures purporting to show teargas/smoke at protests in Sitra (an island south of the capital, Manama) and Jidhafs and Abu Saiba, both west of Manama. Alex Spillius, from the Telegraph's foreign desk, confirmed to the Guardian that Freeman had his fixer have been taken to a police station. He said:
#Bahrain صورة من سترة الان تغرق بالغازات السامة Picture of the attack in sitra nowtwitpic.com/9cvr1h They were told there were in an area where there have been illegal demonstrations.
Freeman had been providing updates on the situation, including protests outside the stadium for the Telegraph's live coverage of the race.
Hassan is a well-known fixer who was only released yesterday after being arrested on Friday and allegedly beaten. Freeman wrote in today's paper:
A translator and fixer used by this newspaper, Mohammed Hassan Sudaif, was also arrested and beaten while attending a demonstration independently on Friday night. Yesterday he was charged with attending an illegal gathering.
See more on Hassan in the 11.51am update on this blog.
3.56pm: A protest is reportedly taking place in Bilad al-Qadim, about 3km south-west of the capital Manama, and has been met with use of teargas by the security forces.
#Bahrain i Can See peaceful protestersmarching to the main road in bilad alqadem now#F1Bahraintwitpic.com/9cux1o
— S.YousifAlmuhafda (@SAIDYOUSIF) April 22, 2012— S.YousifAlmuhafda (@SAIDYOUSIF) April 22, 2012
#Bahrain صورة الغازات السامة تغرق منطقة جدحفص الان Pictute from jidhafs now #F1Bahraintwitpic.com/9cvudn #Bahrain Picture of shooting toxic gas in bilad alqadeem now #F1Bahraintwitpic.com/9cv0t4
— S.YousifAlmuhafda (@SAIDYOUSIF) April 22, 2012— S.YousifAlmuhafda (@SAIDYOUSIF) April 22, 2012
#Bahrain Picture of abu saiba now صورة من ابو صيبع الانtwitpic.com/9cvocb
— S.YousifAlmuhafda (@SAIDYOUSIF) April 22, 2012
4.15pm: A clearer video has emerged purporting to be of a female protester being arrested at the Bahrian International Circuit today.
The short video ends when an official puts his hand over the camera.
4.08pm: More pictures have been posted online of the women protesters who managed to get into the circuit where the GP was held, according to opposition activists.4.08pm: More pictures have been posted online of the women protesters who managed to get into the circuit where the GP was held, according to opposition activists.
This one purports to show the women before their arrest.This one purports to show the women before their arrest.
Another picture shows one of the women apparently being challenged by the police.Another picture shows one of the women apparently being challenged by the police.
@NABEELRAJABصور البنات من الحلبة twitter.com/bahrainfree1/s…@NABEELRAJABصور البنات من الحلبة twitter.com/bahrainfree1/s…
— bahrainfree (@bahrainfree1) April 22, 2012— bahrainfree (@bahrainfree1) April 22, 2012
A video has also been posted purporting to be of an arrest, although it is difficult to make anything out.A video has also been posted purporting to be of an arrest, although it is difficult to make anything out.
3.56pm: A protest is reportedly taking place in Bilad al-Qadim, about 3km south-west of the capital Manama, and has been met with use of teargas by the security forces. 4.15pm: A clearer video has emerged purporting to be of a female protester being arrested at the Bahrian International Circuit today.
#Bahrain i Can See peaceful protestersmarching to the main road in bilad alqadem now#F1Bahraintwitpic.com/9cux1o The short video ends when an official puts his hand over the camera.
4.32pm: Said Yousif, from the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, has posted pictures purporting to show teargas/smoke at protests in Sitra (an island south of the capital, Manama) and Jidhafs and Abu Saiba, both west of Manama.
#Bahrain صورة من سترة الان تغرق بالغازات السامة Picture of the attack in sitra nowtwitpic.com/9cvr1h
— S.YousifAlmuhafda (@SAIDYOUSIF) April 22, 2012— S.YousifAlmuhafda (@SAIDYOUSIF) April 22, 2012
#Bahrain Picture of shooting toxic gas in bilad alqadeem now #F1Bahraintwitpic.com/9cv0t4 #Bahrain صورة الغازات السامة تغرق منطقة جدحفص الان Pictute from jidhafs now #F1Bahraintwitpic.com/9cvudn
— S.YousifAlmuhafda (@SAIDYOUSIF) April 22, 2012— S.YousifAlmuhafda (@SAIDYOUSIF) April 22, 2012
3.40pm: The Sunday Telegraph's chief foreign correspondent, Colin Freeman and his fixer, Mohammed Hasan, have been taken to a police station in Bahrain.
/>
/>Ala'a Shehabi, an activist, reported the news on Twitter. 		#Bahrain Picture of abu saiba now صورة من ابو صيبع الانtwitpic.com/9cvocb
Colin Freeman from Sunday Telegraph along with his fixer Mohd Hassan have been detained at checkpoint #BahrainGP #F1 — S.YousifAlmuhafda (@SAIDYOUSIF) April 22, 2012
4.41pm: Opposition activist Ala'a Shehabi, who earlier reported the detention of the Sunday Telegraph's Colin Freeman (see 3.40pm) now appears to have been arrested herself, judging from her last tweet.
Under arrest. Surrounded by
— Dr Ala'a Shehabi (@alaashehabi) April 22, 2012— Dr Ala'a Shehabi (@alaashehabi) April 22, 2012
Alex Spillius, from the Telegraph's foreign desk, confirmed to the Guardian that Freeman had his fixer have been taken to a police station. He said: 5.07pm: Here's a recap of the main developments so far today:
They were told there were in an area where there have been illegal demonstrations.
Freeman had been providing updates on the situation, including protests outside the stadium for the Telegraph's live coverage of the race.
Hassan is a well-known fixer who was only released yesterday after being arrested on Friday and allegedly beaten. Freeman wrote in today's paper:
A translator and fixer used by this newspaper, Mohammed Hassan Sudaif, was also arrested and beaten while attending a demonstration independently on Friday night. Yesterday he was charged with attending an illegal gathering.
See more on Hassan in the 11.51am update on this blog.
3.24pm: Opposition activists say 10 women protesters got into the Bahrain grand prix circuit. Pictures have been posted online purporting to be the women being led away by the security forces.
تم القبض على الخمينيات من قبل ألشرطه النسائيه #Bahrain #F1 twitter.com/Maj_70/status/…
— Marwa A. Mohamed ♚ (@Maj_70) April 22, 2012
Pic of the female protester being arrested by in a very brutal way in BIC Now @BahrainRights @14FebRevolution @14FebTV twitter.com/SM_ALAWI/statu…
— SAYED MOHAMED (@SM_ALAWI) April 22, 2012
2.59pm: Bahrain Online has posted a picture it says is of clashes between protesters heading for Pearl/Lulu roundabout and security forces.
It looks like teargas has been fired.
2.40pm: The first cars have crossed the line in the Bahrain grand prix. Not all drivers have finished but the race has passed without incident so far.
2.38pm: Here is the poster calling for protests in Bahrain at 4.30pm today (now).
A protest is also reportedly taking place outside Bernie Ecclestone's London office now.
In #London protest , chant now1234 #F1 NO more 5678 stop the #killing stop the #hate@14FebRevolution #BahrainF1 twitter.com/ALFAYEZ313/sta…
— Ali(@ALFAYEZ313) April 22, 2012
2.20pm: Blogger Lulu Avenue says that people are preparing to march on Lulu or Pearl roundabout (see 1.56pm update) at 4.30pm (2.30pm BST) but that there is a heavy security presence.
.. @COALITION14 just announced that 4:30 everyone will be heading to #lulu #Bahrain #F1 #BahrainGP
— Lulu Avenue (@LuluAvenue) April 22, 2012
Armored vehicles & lots of police presence surrounding most of the villages right now #Bahrain #F1 #BahrainGP
— Lulu Avenue (@LuluAvenue) April 22, 2012
@COALITION14 is coalition 14 Feb, a group named after the first day of the current uprising, which began on 14 February last year.
1.56pm: Protesters are planning to march on Lulu or Pearl roundabout, Bahrain Online reports.
Pearl roundabout was the hub of last year's uprising. The giant white monument in the middle of the roundabout was destroyed by the authorities last year, as was the mound of grass that had been home to thousands for weeks.
In February last year police had carried out an early morning raid on the protest camp killing at least four people and injuring dozens.
1.47pm: This Guardian video shows pictures of protesters burning tyres as well as footage of Salah Abbas Habib Musa, who was found dead on Saturday. Opposition activists claim he was killed by riot police. Warning: Video contains images of a graphic nature.

Habib, 36, was a father of five.

1.25pm: AP reports that the Bahraini authorities are beefing up security to prevent protests during the grand prix.

Witnesses say security forces in Bahrain are setting up checkpoints and ringing armoured vehicles into anti-government strongholds to confront possible protests coinciding with the Gulf nation's Formula One Grand Prix.
1.20pm: Some have argued that the grand prix is actually a boon for the Bahraini opposition by drawing attention to them. But activist Mohammed Ashoor does not believe the interest will last.
The race will end soon, the global attention will leave with it, yet my people will still suffer. #Bahrain #f1 #BahrainGP
— #SaveAlKhawaja (@MohmdAshoor) April 22, 2012
1.12pm: A video featured on the Enduring America blog shows Bahraini protesters setting tyres on fire in the capital, Manama. They display a banner protesting agains the grand prix and calling for the release of imprisoned activist Abdulhai al-Khawaja.
It is unclear when the video was filmed.
1.04pm: The race has started successfully.
12.49pm: Whether it is a result of protests or not, attendance at the grand prix appears thin.
Formula One journalist Byron Young tweets this picture of the stand looking far from full.
The grandstand opposite the pits. Strangely quiet. Counting fans 1...2...3..4 twitter.com/byronf1/status…
— Byron Young (@byronf1) April 22, 2012
12.46pm: @al9aaaad8 claims that the road to the race track is being blocked by protesters.
seef highway is blocked for anyone heading to #f1 circuit by protesters for over 10 mins with no traffic movement so far #bahrain
— al9aaaad8 (@al9aaaad8) April 22, 2012
The same Tweeter claims that an Indian man has been killed by teargas canisters thrown into his house by "mercenaries". The Guardian cannot independently verify this report. Opposition activists claim that a large number of the deaths since the start of the uprising have been as a result of teargas.
12.21pm: The Anonymous collective has hacked into a Formula One website in protest at the staging of the Bahrain GP. It has also published a data dump of ticket sales and attendees but it has redacted personal details to preserve privacy. The statement by Anonymous says:
How dare the government of Bahrain hide behind an international sporting event as an attempt to conceal the oppression it is committing against its own people. How dare King al-Khalifa claim that the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who march in the streets for freedom, democracy and non-sectarianism are "just a few troublemakers." How dare they waste the people's money to hire public relations firms to lie on their behalf about the crimes they're committing.
How dare the Formula One organisation allow the royal family to profit millions of dollars off of holding an event there, money which in turn is being used to purchase tear gas and live ammunition which has been used against civilians while Formula One is being held. How dare Bernie Ecclestone and the Formula One organisation condone such horrific violations of human rights in the name of profit. As a response for your callus disregard for human life we, Anonymous, are taking the liberty of educating you, your fans, and the world about the crisis in Bahrain and giving you a cyber taste of your own medicine.
To the fans of F1: You have every right to watch and enjoy your sport, but you have the responsibility to consider the ramifications of your support of this event. Please do the right thing and join the people of Bahrain in solidarity by boycotting this event. Do not watch it on television, do not visit F1 websites. Show that you do not condone racing on the blood of the innocent. Turn your eyes away from this abominable race for this one weekend to send a clear message that the fans of F1 value the rights of people more than the sick negligence of humanity.
11.55am: There is on just over an hour to go until the grand prix is scheduled to start but there are plenty of empty seats, according to the Press Association's Ian Parkes.
Drivers' parade taking place in front of virtually no fans in any grandstand other than the main one.
— Ian Parkes (@ianparkesf1) April 22, 2012
11.51am: Dan Rather, one of the USA's most venerable broadcasters, reports that a Bahraini fixer, who helped with his programme has been freed after being arrested by security forces on Friday night.
After our Bahrain story aired, Mohammed Hasan, the fixer/journalist we interviewed, received threats, but continued to do interviews, including with BBC and at a press conference that Bahraini journalists had convened. On Friday night, he was helping a group of British ITN journalists who had snuck in with tourist visas. They were in a village covering a protest, and Hasan was 'ambushed' -his friend says the police came from behind and hit him with a stun grenade. He was surrounded and beaten with the back of a gun.
He was treated at a hospital and taken to a prison called Dry Dock. He has since been released and it's believed that the charges will be "participating in an illegal gathering of more than 5 people", "vandalism" and "rioting."
The state dept in Bahrain knows of his situation and and we have notified the Committee to Protect Journalists and Human Rights Watch.
11.16am: Detained Bahraini opposition activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja (see 10.53am) met the Danish ambassador today but refused to take saline his wife has said (via Enduring America).
Meanwhile Khawaja's daughter Zainab (a well known blogger under the name of Angry Arabiya) was arrested yesterday after staging a sit-in on the road leading to the Formula One circuit, the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights reports.
Said Yousif, from the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, says Zainab al-Khawaja refused to go to see the public prosecutor today and is being held in jail.
11.00am: Mohamed, tweeting under the handle @almakna, has posted a picture of black smoke rising (as reported seperately by Reuters), taken by @14Feb which he says is near the hotel Formula One drivers are staying in.
Demonstators have been burning tyres to protest against the staging of the grand prix.
10.53am: A focus for recent protests in Bahrain has been the continued detention of leading opposition activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja (pictured below), who has been on hunger strike for 74 days.
His family and human rights groups have expressed fears that he could die. Amnesty International has called for his release, describing him as a prisoner of conscience, and the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has urged Bahrain to re-consider its refusal to allow Denmark to take custody of him (he has Danish citizenship). Khawaja was sentenced to life-imprisoment in June last year for his part in the uprising against the western-backed Sunni monarchy, on charges opposition activists and human rights groups say were trumped up.
The interior ministry has moved to dispel fears about Khawaja's health today and said the Danish ambassador would be meeting the activist.
There is no truth to rumors of the condition of Abdulhadi Al Khawaja. He is in good health & will meet Danish ambassador today at 10am #BAH
— Ministry of Interior (@moi_bahrain) April 22, 2012
10.31am: Bahrain Online claims that security forces are trying to make sure that protests cannot take place.
Regime forces blocking/quarantining a number of entrances of villages around #lulu to prevent protestors leaving the villages #Bahrain
— BahrainOnline (@ONLINEBAHRAIN) April 22, 2012
10.13am: The Press Association's Formula One journalist provides some sense of the extent of the security operation today - he says he has counted 86 police cars on their way to race.
On the final day of the 'count the police cars' game' heading to the track, today's grand total is 86!
— Ian Parkes (@ianparkesf1) April 22, 2012
Meanwhile, Bernie Ecclestone appears to think it appropriate to make jokes about the situation.
Mr E and BIC boss Zayed Al Zayani in media centre. Stops for pvt chat with @alanbaldwinf1 and I. Jokingly suggests 2nd race here this year.
— Ian Parkes (@ianparkesf1) April 22, 2012
10.01am: The Guardian's Richard Williams writes that the furore surrounding today's race is a result of Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone's "habit of taking the money and asking no questions".
What has happened on the oil-rich island in the Persian Gulf is a direct result of the way Ecclestone has run the sport since taking control 30 years ago. His willingness to tear up its traditional roots and follow the money into new territories opened the way for an eventual collision between a spectacle whose audience is still largely European and countries with non-democratic systems of government.
Bahrain is the wrong time and the wrong place in which to maintain the pretence that sport is sport and politics is politics, and that the two have no interdependence. The country's royal family destroyed that fiction when they had posters put up around their Sakhir circuit featuring the slogan "UniF1ed – One Nation in Celebration", an explicit use of Formula One to bolster their claim to have taken steps to improve conditions for their people since the first demonstrations in March 2011, part of the "Arab spring", caused the cancellation of last year's grand prix. Amnesty International's most recent report on the situation in Bahrain calmly but remorselessly dismantled those claims ...
Ecclestone's habit of taking the money and asking no questions ensured that one day he would place the Formula One teams and their personnel in the position they now find themselves: nervous of their personal safety and uncertain how to respond to the question of whether they should be there at all. Thanks to him, a sport whose conscience was once troubled only by its environmental impact now looks like a pariah.
9.51am: Good morning. Welcome to Middle East live. The focus today is on Bahrain where the Formula One grand prix is going ahead despite a growing international outcry.
BahrainBahrain
• The grand prix is set to go ahead amid intensifired criticism of the staging of the race in the Gulf state following the discovery of the body of a protester allegedly abducted from a village by security forces. According to the opposition party Wefaq, the body of 36-year-old Salah Abbas Habib Musa, a father of five, was found on a rooftop in the Shia village of Shakhoura the day before the race. Pictures of Habib's body shown on Bahraini television appeared different to a long-lens shot of his body taken from a neighbouring roof just after the body's discovery (warning: graphic), suggesting that sticks had been placed around his body and a catapult placed in his hand. • The controversial Formula One grand prix passed without incident but a group of women reportedly held a protest inside the Bahrain International Circuit. The women were reportedly arrested and one was said to have been beaten, according to activists, but the Guardian cannot independently verify this. Attendance at the race was low according to people at the circuit
• Nabeel Rajab, one of the country's leading opposition activists, has accused the Bahraini government of holding back Habib's body to prevent his funeral coinciding with the grand prix. • Protests have also been reported outside the circuit, including in Abu Saiba, Bilad al-Qadim, Jidhafs and Sitra. Pictures were posted online purportedly showing use of teargas against protesters and armoured cars on the streets.
Doesn't appear that the authority will hand over the body of the martyr in order not to bury him today &get exposed in front of #F1 visitors • The Sunday Telegraph's chief foreign correspondent, Colin Freeman and his fixer, Mohammed Hasan, have been taken to a police station in Bahrain. Alex Spillius, from the Telegraph's foreign desk, said: "They were told there were in an area where there have been illegal demonstrations." Hassan is a well-known fixer who was only released from jail yesterday after being arrested on Friday night and allegedly beaten by security forces.
— Nabeel Rajab (@NABEELRAJAB) April 22, 2012 • Ala'a Shehabi, an activist who met Bernie Ecclestone earlier this year to try to persuade him to call off the Bahrain GP, said she in a Tweet that she has been arrested.
• Black smoke from burning tyres has been wafting over Budaiya this morning, ahead of the race, which is due to begin at 1pm BST. Budaiya, outside the capital of Manama, was the scene of mass protests on Friday.
• Fahad al Binali, spokesman for the Bahrain information affairs authority, said measures were in place to prevent any disruption to the event. He told the BBC: "Guaranteeing is difficult, but we have the best measures in place. I'm very confident and assure everybody about safety."
SyriaSyria
• Syrian troops stormed and shelled districts in a suburb of Damascus today, activists told AP, a day after the security council voted to expand the number of UN truce monitors to 300 members in hopes of salvaging an international peace plan marred by continued fighting between the military and opposition rebels. • Syrian soldiers stormed the Damascus suburb of Douma, and rebels bombed a military convoy in Aleppo, in the north of the country, as international mediator Kofi Annan urged both sides to work with an expanding team of UN ceasefire monitors. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces killed at least 12 people on Sunday, six of them in Homs province. The others were killed when security forces opened fire in the northern province of Idlib and when soldiers backed by tanks charged into Douma, it said. At least four soldiers were killed when a bomb hit an armoured personnel carrier outside Douma, it added.
Douma-based activist Mohammed Saeed said two people were killed by indiscriminate firing in the sprawling district, the scene of intense clashes between rebels and security forces before a cease-fire went into effect more than a week ago. name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> name="flashvars" value="endpoint=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2012/apr/22/syria-gunfire-un-observers-ceasefire-video/json"> src="http://www.guardian.co.uk/video/embed" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="460" height="370" flashvars="endpoint=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2012/apr/22/syria-gunfire-un-observers-ceasefire-video/json">

• Ceasefire monitors visited Rastan, a rebel-held town south of Hama, according to activists. An amateur video posted online showed two white UN vehicles driving in Rastan accompanied by a red pick up truck with the words "Free Army" written on it. Other videos showed two UN monitors wearing blue helmets and body armor touring Rastan along with officers from the rebel Free Syrian Army who point to damaged buildings and a large crowd of people shouting "Bye Bye Bashar!" and "The people want to topple the regime." In Hama, activists said soldiers opened fire to prevent a crowd from meeting the observers in the city's main square. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the city.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based opposition group with a network of activists on the ground, confirmed the deaths. It reported that a third person was killed overnight in the village of Hteita outside Damascus when troops opened fire from a checkpoint. 7.29pm: Good evening. This is Ben Quinn taking over the blog now.
It was not immediately clear what prompted the attack on Douma. Saeed said loud explosions that shook the city early Sunday caused panic among residents, some of whom used mosque loudspeakers to urge people to take cover in basements and in lower floors of apartment buildings.
/>"This UN observers thing is a big joke," Saeed said. "Shelling stops and tanks are hidden when they visit somewhere, and when they leave, shelling resumes." 		Some news first from Egypt, where the country's former foreign minister, who is also a leading contender for the presidency, has said he would give the military a voice in key policies via a national security council.
The comments by Amr Moussa, reports the Associated Press news agency, is a move to reassure ruling generals about their status after a power transfer.
Moussa, a self-described liberal nationalist whose main election rivals are Islamists, also said Egypt needed a president with lobbying skills to work effectively with the Islamist-dominated parliament and other institutions after decades of autocratic government.
Egypt's presidential vote that starts on May 23-24 will mark the final stage of a transition to civilian rule from generals who took charge after Hosni Mubarak was ousted last year.
7.34pm: A team from Channel 4 News has been arrested in Bahrain, according to the channel.
Amy Lawson, head of communications for Channel 4 News at ITN, has tweeted:
A Channel 4 News team has been arrested in Bahrain. We have been in contact with them & are v concerned for the welfare of their driver(1/2)
— Amy Lawson (@amyllawson) April 22, 2012
he was assaulted and separated from the group. we are working with the authorities. interview with Jonathan Miller on our website soon (2/2)
— Amy Lawson (@amyllawson) April 22, 2012
7.44pm: Channel 4 News' Head of Foreign News Ben De Pear has also been tweeting:
Team arrested, surrounded by masked men and the driver assaulted taken away separately, last seen bleeding from his arms and we v concerned
— benc4fored (@bendepear) April 22, 2012
7.55pm: The result today on the Grand Prix track is far from the minds of many following events in Bahrain but, for the record, it was won by Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel.
Reuters reports that the race passed off in front of half-empty stands and that oficials put spectator numbers at 28,000 in a circuit that can hold 45,000.
Vettel said shortly after arrival on Thursday that he thought much of what was being reported was hype and wanted to focus on "stuff that really matters - tyre temperatures, cars".
After the race, he appeared relieved. "It was a difficult race, extremely tough," said the 24-year-old German, who closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he stood on the podium.
7.59pm: Tough security enabled today's race in Bahrain to go ahead in Manama, but have opponents claimed moral victory, reports the Guardian's Middle East editor, Ian Black:
Nearby villages were described as being under "undeclared curfew". Witnesses said police broke up any sign of flash protests and fired teargas if there were no cameras present.
Opposition activists ended the day on a defiant note, exploiting social media to publicise their cause and relishing the brief but intense international interest in Bahrain that was generated by the F1 row.
"They [the government] miscalculated," activist Ala'a Shehabi told Reuters. "They thought cancelling the race would be a defeat for them but they didn't realise the cost of holding the race. They didn't factor in the negative branding."
Shortly afterwards, Shehabi was arrested and tweeted the news to her followers as it happened.
Protesters tried to organise a march to Pearl roundabout in downtown Manama, the centre of last year's Arab spring unrest in the country, but activists who managed to evade police checkpoints were quickly arrested.
8.05pm: A Channel 4 News spokesman has told the Press Association: "We can confirm that our foreign affairs correspondent Jonathan Miller and his team have been arrested whilst reporting for the programme from a village in Bahrain."
"Our primary concern is for the safety of the team, and we are working with the appropriate authorities to secure a swift release."
"We are also working hard to establish the whereabouts of the driver who was assaulted and separated from the group."
8.07pm: The US ambassador to Yemen has said that a recent military shake-up has improved the fight against al-Qaida, which has taken advantage of internal turmoil to overrun parts of the country's south.
Ambassador Gerald Feierstein also told reporters in the capital, Sanaa, that Washington is concerned about Yemeni officials who resist reforms ordered by the new president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. He replaced longtime ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh after a year of demonstrations and unrest.
The Associated Press reports:
Yemen's army has gone on the offensive against al-Qaida's dangerous Yemen branch in the south after Hadi made the announcements that replaced Saleh loyalists with new officials. Feierstein praised the new leadership.
"We have begun to see in the past few days ... a strategy to challenge al-Qaida in ways they have not done in the past months," he said.
In his more than 30 years in power, Saleh stacked key security and government posts with relatives and cronies. One of Hadi's main challenges is weeding them out as part of urgently needed reforms in the fight against al-Qaida.
On Sunday, the army fought al-Qaida militants for a second day in the outskirts of Zinjibar, the capital city of the southern province of Abyan. The city was overrun by al-Qaida last year. The military offensive there is the first on the city in months.
Security officials said army shelling killed five al-Qaida militants just outside another city in Abyan on Sunday, where the group has been clashing with soldiers and residents for almost two weeks. Militants want to capture the city of Lawder and the strategic road it controls, about 250 kilometers (150 miles) southeast of the capital.
8.14pm: Now the race has finished, Formula One and Bahrain must start to recover from what has been a PR disaster, Paul Weaver, Formula One correspondent for the Guardian.
He writes from Bahrain:
At the track the atmosphere was almost surreal. Bonkers, a clown flown in from the UK, entertained spectators, and there was a military march-past, like a flexed muscle before an imaginary foe. Bad things were happening out there, but not at the Bahrain international circuit.
Before the cars screamed into action Bernie Ecclestone, the commercial rights holder, and Zayed Al Zayani, the chairman of the circuit, visited the media centre to lecture journalists.
Ecclestone, so often the panto villain in this noisy and far travelling production, told us what a great country Bahrain was and how we would all be back here next year. Al Zayani looked a little more relaxed after it was all over. "The excitement and quality of the racing is a fitting conclusion to another enthralling weekend of racing at the BIC."
He did, though, give some seriously implausible figures. He claimed that 28,000 spectators attended the race, even though the empty stands suggested that Bahrain had voted with it's weary feet. It was claimed that 70,000 had come to the three days of racing, surely another gross exaggeration.
8.17pm: Blogger Lulu Avenue tweets:
#F1 event finished but shooting still going in villages , hope media will pay more attention to Human rights violation in #Bahrain
— Lulu Avenue (@LuluAvenue) April 22, 2012
8.23pm: Ruwayda Mustafah, British-Kurdish writer based in London, tweets:
My friend @alaashehabi has been arrested in Bahrain earlier today, reportedly for showing journalists around. No word from her yet!
— Ruwayda Mustafah (@RuwaydaMustafah) April 22, 2012
8.38pm: Here is a link to an interview Channel 4 News' Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Jonathan Miller, gave to Channel 4 News earlier this evening after he and his crew were arrested.
Speaking from a police landrover as they made their way to a police station, Miller said they had been filming in a shia village earlier today, where residents have been demonstrating on a daily basis.
Miller said his crew had been operating without accreditation, adding: "We came under the rader and had been filming discreetly."
"Basically we had been lucky until then we were actually heading back to where we are staying to edit the piece we had collated for tonight, which was quite strong actually."
The authorities had been very unpleasant towards the crew and he was particularly worried for their Bahraini driver, who he had hired to drive them around and who had willingly taken up the job. The record of the Bahraini police gave his crew major cause for concern about the fate that might now await their driver.
"Unfortunately this country does not invite very many journalists in to cover things here," he added.
"They want coverage of the Grand Prix and not much else, Sports journalists, you may have noticed, from other channels have ended up doing some of the political reporting."
9.55pm: Bahrain's Foreign Minister, Khalid Alkhalifa, has been tweeting about the arrest of the Channel 4 crew:
Channel 4 news crew admit to working without accreditation .. Not acceptable . Laws of the land should be respectedht.ly/armjO
— Khalid Alkhalifa (@khalidalkhalifa) April 22, 2012
10.20pm: Britain's Foreign Secretary, William Hague, has also used twitter to react to the arrest of the Channel 4 crew:
Very concerned about detention of Channel 4 journalists in #Bahrain. Our Embassy is seeking urgent consular access
— William Hague (@WilliamJHague) April 22, 2012
11.13pm: Here is a summary of developments over the course of Sunday:
Bahrain
• The controversial Formula One grand prix passed without incident but a group of women reportedly held a protest inside the Bahrain International Circuit. The women were reportedly arrested and one was said to have been beaten, according to activists, but the Guardian cannot independently verify this. Attendance at the race was low according to people at the circuit
• Protests have also been reported outside the circuit, including in Abu Saiba, Bilad al-Qadim, Jidhafs and Sitra. Pictures were posted online purportedly showing use of teargas against protesters and armoured cars on the streets.
• A Channel 4 News team led by foreign affairs correspondent Jonathan Miller were arrested by Bahraini authorities.
The authorities have prevented a number of other news journalists from covering events over the weekend by refusing them entry, but Miller said his team had come in "under the radar" and had been filming discreetly without accreditation.
He expected to be deported but, citing the poor human rights record of Bahrain's police, expressed concern about the welfare of the team's local driver.
• The Sunday Telegraph's chief foreign correspondent, Colin Freeman and his fixer, Mohammed Hasan, have been taken to a police station in Bahrain. Alex Spillius, from the Telegraph's foreign desk, said: "They were told there were in an area where there have been illegal demonstrations." Hassan is a well-known fixer who was only released from jail yesterday after being arrested on Friday night and allegedly beaten by security forces.
• Ala'a Shehabi, an activist who met Bernie Ecclestone earlier this year to try to persuade him to call off the Bahrain GP, said she in a Tweet that she has been arrested.
Syria
• Syrian soldiers stormed the Damascus suburb of Douma, and rebels bombed a military convoy in Aleppo, in the north of the country, as international mediator Kofi Annan urged both sides to work with an expanding team of UN ceasefire monitors. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces killed at least 12 people on Sunday, six of them in Homs province. The others were killed when security forces opened fire in the northern province of Idlib and when soldiers backed by tanks charged into Douma, it said. At least four soldiers were killed when a bomb hit an armoured personnel carrier outside Douma, it added.
• Ceasefire monitors visited Rastan, a rebel-held town south of Hama, according to activists. An amateur video posted online showed two white UN vehicles driving in Rastan accompanied by a red pick up truck with the words "Free Army" written on it. Other videos showed two UN monitors wearing blue helmets and body armor touring Rastan along with officers from the rebel Free Syrian Army who point to damaged buildings and a large crowd of people shouting "Bye Bye Bashar!" and "The people want to topple the regime." In Hama, activists said soldiers opened fire to prevent a crowd from meeting the observers in the city's main square. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the city.
11.26pm: Jonathan Miller and his Channel 4 News team have been released, minus their cameras and computers. He tweets:
I've been released with my crew. Breakneck drive to Bahrain airport in police van. Being deported now.
— Jonathan Miller (@millerC4) April 22, 2012
My driver and dr Ala'a shebahi, the activist I was with during police chase are still in detention. We are assured they will be freed soon
— Jonathan Miller (@millerC4) April 22, 2012
This blog is being wrapped up now, but here is an overview of events in Bahrain today, by the Guardian's Middle East editor, Ian Black.
Paul Weaver, the Guardian's Formula One correspondent, has also filed this piece from Bahrain on the "surreal atmosphere" at the Grand Prix.