Bahraini worshipers shout slogans in support of top senior Shia cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim during the Friday Prayers at a mosque in Diraz on May 17, 2013.<\/p>\n
Bahrainis have held a protest rally near the capital Manama to reaffirm their support for the top Shia cleric Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Ahmed Qassim.\n<\/p>\n
The demonstration was held in the village of Diraz, west of Manama, on Friday, hours after the Bahraini regime forces stormed the cleric\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s house.\n<\/p>\n
Witnesses said the regime forces broke the doors of Sheikh Qassim\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s house in Diraz and damaged his property.\n<\/p>\n
According to Bahrain\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s main opposition bloc, al-Wefaq, the cleric was not at home at the time of the raid, but his family members were present. The troops left after searching the house while police helicopters were hovering above for hours.\n<\/p>\n
\u00c5\u201cDozens of armed troops, accompanied by masked civilian forces, stormed the home of Ayatollah Isa Qassim at dawn on Friday … damaging property and terrorizing women and children,\u201d al-Wefaq said in its statement.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Sheikh Qassim has repeatedly criticized Manama over its violent crackdown on protests. <\/p>\n
Bahrain, which is home to the US Navy\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s Fifth Fleet, has been the scene of anti-regime protests since February 2011. Scores of people have been killed and hundreds more injured in the regime crackdown.\n<\/p>\n
The protesters, however, say they will continue holding demonstrations against the Al Khalifa regime until their demands for the establishment of a democratically-elected government and an end to rights violations are met.\n<\/p>\n
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