Thousands march at Bahrain teens funeral

Photographs of the boy covered the coffin as it was lofted into the air in Sitra.

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J DAVID GOODMAN

Thousands marched through a restive village near the capital of Bahrain on Thursday for the funeral of a 14-year-old boy killed during an anti-government protest the day before,activists said.

Photographs of the boy smiling before his death and caked in blood shortly after covered the coffin as it was lofted into the air in Sitra,an oil village six miles south of Manama,and a hub of opposition sentiment. Many in the crowd waved the red and white flag of Bahrain as they followed the body.

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Mourners held photocopied images of the boy during the march,and some chanted,Down,down,Hamad! in reference to the countrys leader,King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa. Activists said many in Bahrain had been outraged by the death of the boy,identified as Ali Jawad Ahmad,and thousands filled the street on Thursday in protest. Its a huge march in Sitra village; its tens of thousands, said Mohammed al-Maskati,head of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights,who attended the march and said protesters came from surrounding cities and towns.

But despite fears of a crackdown,security forces did not confront the crowd. The march broke up after the burial in the early afternoon,Maskati said.

Witnesses said the boy was killed on Wednesday morning when security forces fired a tear gas canister directly into a crowd at close range. He was struck in the head,the witnesses said,and died shortly afterward at a hospital.

In a report by the state-run news agency on Wednesday,the government confirmed the death but said there had been no reported police action against lawbreakers in Sitra that morning,except dispersing a small group of around 10 people at 1:15 am, clashes also reported by The Associated Press. The Ministry of the Interior,which confirmed the boys name,offered a reward of more than $26,000 for information about those responsible for his death.

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Later in the day,Bahrains head of public prosecution,Osama al-Asfoor,released a statement saying that an autopsy showed that Ali had died of injuries to the back of his neck. Asfoor also said that the boy had injuries under his chin and bruises on his face,hand,knees and pelvic area. He said that a blood examination showed no effects of tear gas exposure.