Arabs urged to shun Western lifestyle

Head of the influential Shia society Al Wefaq, Shaikh Ali Salman, told Gulf News yesterday that if the Arab world wanted to defeat the Americans they would need to change their "western" lifestyle first and adapt it to a more "Islamic and Arab" lifestyle.

He was speaking as a group of 500 high school students representing eight schools held the first peaceful sit in demonstration in front of the U.S. embassy yesterday since the war on Iraq began.

Bahrain witnessed violent riots in front of the U.S. and British embassy in Manama. Garbage, tyres and a police car were burnt following which riot police fired tear gas shells and rubber bullets.

In another incident, a gas cylinder explosion in a waste refuse was triggered 50 metres away from the base of the fifth fleet of the American navy in Juffair on Monday between a residential compound and Manama Club.

The two buildings were damaged and nobody was injured.

"Look around you. Everybody is acting like an American, leading their lifestyle and being too western in their daily life. How can we defeat the U.S. if we act like the enemy? We need to bring back our culture and traditions and unite as Muslims and Arabs, and then we can defeat the enemy," he said.

The students burnt down the British flag and demanded the Bahraini government close down the embassy.

"I call upon all Bahrainis to hold peaceful demonstrations. We need to prove to the Americans that we are civil and can portray our opinions through peaceful means," he said.

The riot police sealed off the area surrounding the embassy and the traffic police stopped traffic heading to the area.

However, more than 2,000 University of Bahrain students participated in a peaceful rally in the Sakhir campus yesterday.

The event was organised by the four youth societies in Bahrain.

"Arabic televisions are telling the whole world that the casualty toll is rising. We need to act on this by closing down the American base and embassy and by allowing Bahrainis and expatriates alike to protest their views in a civilised manner," said head of the Bahraini youth society, Hussain Al Hulaibi.