Bahrain Live Coverage: The Many 10,000s Marching

See also Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Shelling in the Morning, Protests in the Afternoon
Friday's Bahrain Live Coverage: Day 100 of a Hunger Strike

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1500 GMT: The Gathering of National Unity, a largely Sunni organisation which emerged in 2011 in response to the protests challenging the regime, is holding a rally today in front of the Al Fateh Mosque:

Flags of "Free Syria" and of the Ahwaz Arab community in Iran raised next to the flag promoting "unity" of the Gulf Co-operation Council nations:

1410 GMT: One hundred human rights organisations from around the world have posted an open letter "call[ing] on the King, the Crown Prince and the Prime Minister of Bahrain to immediately release all human rights defenders, Twitter activists and bloggers, detained solely for exercising their right to peaceful free expression, whether online or during demonstrations last year.

The organisations also requested that "the United Nations Human Rights Council, the European Parliament and all concerned governments...exert their influence on the ruling family to stop violating human rights in Bahrain".

1405 GMT: Near the end of this video from Bani Jamra on Friday night, police appear to fire a shotgun at the cameraman:

0925 GMT: Bahrain's International Affairs Authority has written a sharply-worded rejection of the finding of an independent autopsy, carried by Al Jazeera English, that Yousef Mowali was tortured before he was found in dead in seawater on 13 January.

The letter complains that Dr. Fincanci, brought in by Mowali's family and lawyer --- but only at risk of her arrest if caught --- carried out the autopsy in far-from-ideal conditions. In response to the finding that Mowali, who went missing while on a walk on 11 January, was abused, the IAA claims:

[The Medical Examiner] showed extensive pictures of the foot, leg, and arm which Dr. Fincanci claimed showed “obvious” evidence torture and mistreatment. The feet did not show any injuries; the legs showed slight peeling of the skin in a few places as a result of the extensive exposure to the sun and seawater for several days; and the arm showed discolored areas where the skin had sustained injuries slightly mimicking burns due to exposure to the elements.

The IAA letter, however, does not directly respond to Fincanci's finding that Mowali had been subjected to electrical abuse, contributing to his death.

The IAA says "the Public Prosector has requested a meeting with Dr. Fincanci so she can present any evidence she claims to have".

0550 GMT: Thoughts now turn to today, where the authorities have already indicated they will not stand for a repeat of Friday's march. The Ministry of Interior stated that Al Wefaq's request for permission to gather had been denied and any rally will be "illegal".

That raises the question of how many people will come out when the threat of arrest is invoked, and it offers the near-certainty that the police's use of tear gas and maybe ammunition will accompany protest in the news today.

0540 GMT: We begin by noting Friday's mass display of protest in a march sponsored by the opposition society Al Wefaq. 

The press releases varied wildly in their numerical claims. The Ministry of Interior dismissed the gathering as only 15,000, while Al Wefaq claimed more than 300,000. Based on the images in photographs and video, as well as witness accounts, we will go with "many 10,000s".

Just as important were the messages of the rally. The stated reason for the gathering was a show of resistance to the Bahraini regime's desire for "unity" with Saudi Arabia. That was duly displayed, but the march also featured the persistent call to the King, "Down, Down, Hamad!". It also added a loud message of support for Bahrain's leading Shi'a cleric, Sheikh Isa Qassim, portrayed by the Government as a divisive figure advocating violence and following Iran.

That display was not a response to the regime's claims of "reform" amid its politics, detentions, and policing of the village. It also replied to the drumbeat, in international as well as domestic media, that the opposition is fragmented beyond effectiveness.

There are differences between factions of the opposition over methods and over the scale of change in Bahrain. But at this level --- the persistence demand for rights and justice and for a Bahrain that stands for the people, rather than under Saudi oversight --- there was no difference on Friday or, probably, on any other day. That, rather than fragmentation, is the starting point for the political situation.