Anti-government protesters in Bahrain clash with riot police

Anti-government protesters clashed with riot police in Bahrain's Sitra, south of the capital Manama on Tuesday. Several protests have turned violent since Saudi Arabia executed Shi'ite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr on Saturday, stoking outrage among Shi'ites in Bahrain and elsewhere in the Middle East. Anti-government protests and clashes with riot police continued in various villages with a Shi'ite majority in Bahrain. Dozens of anti-government protesters came out on the streets wearing tear gas masks and carrying pro Shi'ite flags. Riot police shot tear gas to disperse the protesters. Bahrain has been politically volatile since a 2011 uprising by the Shi'ite community demanding reforms and a bigger role in running the Sunni-led country was crushed, partly by military intervention from Bahrain's Gulf Arab allies including Saudi Arabia. Bahrain on Monday joined Saudi Arabia in cutting ties with Iran, a mutual foe and the region's preeminent Shi'ite power, after a mob stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran. Other countries including Sudan and Kuwait followed suit while also cutting air links across the Gulf with Iran.