DUBAI/MANAMA: Anti-government protesters in Bahrain are planning “days of rage” directed at this weekend’s Formula One Grand Prix, while security forces have rounded up dozens of activists in a clampdown on the opposition in the Gulf Arab nation.
 
Bahrain has been in turmoil since a democracy movement erupted last year after uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.
 
The island state’s revolution was initially crushed with the loss of dozens of lives, but youths still clash daily with riot police and thousands are turning out for opposition rallies as the motor race approaches.
 
“Boycott F1 in Bahrain,” reads a graffiti message daubed on a wall in a village outside the capital, Manama, next to a painted image of a red Ferrari race car. Another message reads: “You will race on the blood of martyrs.”
 
Bahrain’s ruling Al-Khalifa family had to cancel last year’s race because of the uprising, but its return on April 20-22 is a chance to tell the world that all is back to normal – which could work if protests and clashes are kept to Shiite districts and do not reach major highways or the capital.
 
Bernie Ecclestone, the colorful British owner of the commercial rights to Formula One, said last week the race would go ahead because all was “quiet and peaceful” in Bahrain, which paid last year’s hosting fee of an estimated $40 million despite cancelling the race due to the conflict.
 
The Bahrain race, part of a 20-event worldwide season that has revenues of $2 billion, drew 100,000 visitors and generated an estimated half a billion dollars in spending when it was last held two years ago.
 
Race organizers say “the security situation in Bahrain is suitable for the staging of a major sporting event.” John Yates, a former senior British police officer hired by Bahrain to oversee reform of its police force, said he felt “safer than I have often felt in London.”
 
The opposition, led by Al-Wefaq party, say they do not oppose the race and their protests – licensed by a government under U.S. pressure to allow more space for dissent – will focus on demands for political reforms in a country where the Khalifa family dominates government and the economy.
 
Formula One was originally brought to Bahrain in 2004 as part of economic reforms championed by Crown Prince Salman al-Khalifa – whom Al-Wefaq continues to bet on as a man to deliver political reform – to encourage foreign investment and jobs for Bahrainis.
 
“We think Formula One is a secondary issue compared to the question of long-term rights. What we care about is our demands. We don’t want to ruin the projects’ of others,” said Al-Wefaq member Sayed Hadi al-Mousawi.
 
But he predicted protesters would try to hold demonstrations near or inside the Sakhir circuit, which lies south of the capital and away from most residential areas.
 
“There are hundreds or maybe thousands who will get there and raise slogans, and they don’t care if they are taken to jail. People have reached the point of no fear,” Mousawi said.
 
The crown prince was confronted by dozens of protesters Wednesday who shouted anti-government slogans in the Sanabis neighborhood that has been an opposition stronghold during the Gulf kingdom’s 14-month uprising.
 
He was surrounded as he left a funeral of a Shiite executive who worked on one of his labor reform projects.
 
Thirty-five people died during a month of protests when the uprising first began last year, but activists say the ongoing violence has taken the toll to around 70.
 
Activists say heavy use of tear gas has caused many deaths. The government disputes the causes of death and their attribution to the strife, and accuses youths of endangering police lives with petrol bombs.
 
Opposition figures outside the political parties who are opposed to the race say they will stage protests inside the F1 circuit if they can, hoping to catch international attention.
 
They say they will host daily events, including a march in Manama Thursday at a location to be announced, culminating in a countrywide “day of rage” both Saturday and Sunday.
 
Youth protesters, who operate under the banner of the anti-monarchy February 14 Youth Coalition, have burned some Formula One advertising promotional material in recent days.
 
Protesters managed to make their point during an international air fair in January by burning enough tires around the island to create a cloud of smoke visible at the event.
 
Activists say police have arrested at least 90 people in recent days as part of a crackdown to make sure the capital’s major districts remain calm for visiting sports fans, though well-known protest organizers have been left alone.
 
Sports fans heading down the main highway out of Manama to the circuit will likely notice the heavy security presence around the Pearl Roundabout traffic junction – focal point of last year’s protests which remains closed to prevent a repeat.
 
Though life in Manama’s main commercial, residential and tourist districts appears detached from the nightly battles, tear gas often floats over from conflict zones pocketed around the capital.