Sohar: Panic has gripped residents in Oman, particularly in Muscat and Sohar as rumours of more trouble spread across the country, including an incident, hitherto, unconfirmed of a fuel station torched in Liwa, outskirts of Sohar town.
The cat and mouse game at the Globe roundabout in Sohar continued between the police and the hundreds of protesters, who have taken over the place also known as Sohar roundabout.
And, there is clear division among protesters. Majority want to carry on their sit-in peacefully by blocking the roads only. Some have climbed up the globe too. While there are a few who want to besiege the police station located some 500-metres from the roundabout.
As some of the protesters started moving towards the police station they were urged to get back to the roundabout but they got more adventurous and threw stones and set some objects on fire outside the police station.
As the crowd swelled in front of the police station, the policemen from inside lobbed teargas shells and this game of cat and mouse continued till late in the evening.
The protesters here as well as in Muscat were expecting the country’s ruler to address their grievances. “We have been told that the Sultan will address to out complaints at 7pm,” Khalid Al Badi, one of the protesters said.
“We will sit here peacefully as long as we have to,” he said in reply to a question if the Sultan doesn’t address to their demands.
Another set of protesters staged a peaceful sit-in in front of the Majlis Asshura building in Seeb district of Muscat.
The protesters in Sohar as well as in Muscat are also demanding that those responsible for the death of two citizens – one from Sohar and another from Saham – should be tried in a court of law.
