Azerbaijan, Baku, March 18 /Trend/
Hundreds of Kuwaiti Shiites demonstrated on Thursday to protest against a violent police crackdown on Shiite-led protests in Bahrain and to thank Kuwait's emir for not sending troops there, AFP reports.
The protesters, among them women and children, carried Kuwaiti and Bahraini flags and banners reading: "Stop killing unarmed innocent people" and "Stop the massacres."
The peaceful rally was held opposite the Sief Palace, the government seat in Kuwait City, amid tight security with police looking on.
Protesters observed a minute's silence for those "who sacrificed their lives" in Bahrain, and chanted slogans calling for Muslim unity among Shiites and Sunnis.
Kuwaiti Shiites, who comprise about 30 percent of the 1.2 million native population, have strongly criticised the deployment of Gulf troops in Bahrain and had urged the Kuwaiti ruler not to do the same.
Shiite MP Saleh Ashour warned he would question the prime minister in parliament if Kuwait sent troops to Bahrain as part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) force.
Bahraini security forces on Wednesday broke a month-old protest by Shiites, in an operation that left three protesters and two police dead.