Saudi-led forces from the Gulf countries' joint Peninsula Shield Force crossed the international causeway into Bahrain March 14 to help restore order after protesters shut down Manama's financial center the previous day, sparking hours of street clashes. The incursion by the 1,000-strong force came in response to a request form the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Responding to a reporter's question about the incursion, White House spokesman Jay Carney told a news briefing: "We've seen the reports that you're talking about. This is not an invasion of a country. We urge the government of Bahrain, as we have repeatedly, as well as other GCC countries, to exercise restraint." (Middle East Online, Reuters, March 14)

Two protesters died in Yemen on March 13, a day after being shot by police in the southern city of Aden, raising the death toll to seven in demonstrations against President Ali Abdullah Saleh. There were also disturbing reports from the capital, Sanaa, of protesters passing out and going into convulsions after inhaling gas fired by police. "This isn't tear gas," said Iraqi doctor Hussein al-Joshaai, a nerve specialist who was at the scene. "This is poison gas that disables the nervous and respiratory systems." Another doctor, Abdulwahab al-Inssi, said: "Those wounded today couldn't have been hit by tear gas grenades. They are suffering spasms." The interior ministry denied the allegations as "baseless slander." (Middle East Online, March 13)

Saudi Arabia is preparing to intervene in neighboring Bahrain, after a day of clashes between police and protesters. Bahrain's crown prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa is expected to formally invite Saudi forces into his country, as part of a request now being considered by the six-member Gulf Co-operation Council. Hundreds were injured after police fired tear gas and charged protesters who had occupied Manama’s financial center on March 13.

Four were killed in fighting between anti-government protesters and security forces in Yemen March 12, even as President Ali Abdullah Saleh promised the White House that he would not use violence against the demonstrators. At least three people were killed in the capital, where some 100,000 staged a sit-in at Sanaa University to demand Saleh's ouster. As police used tear gas to break up the sit-in, pro-government snipers opened fire from rooftops. The fourth casualty, a 14-year-old boy, was killed in a protest the southern port city of Mukalla. In a bid to counter what he called "sedition," Saleh went on TV to pledge a referendum on a new constitution later this year, which would devolve further powers to parliament. But the move was dismissed by the opposition. "The president's initiative is too late and constitutes the last breath of the political regime which protesters demand and end to," parliamentary opposition spokesman Mohammad al-Sabri said. (NYT, Middle East Online, March 11)

Police in Bahrain fired tear gas at anti-government protesters March 11, as thousands marched on a square near the royal palace in Manama. Protesters were also confronted by a group of pro-regime loyalists armed with golf clubs, knives, swords, metal pipes and sticks embedded with nails. A clash ensued for control of the square as the mainly Shi'ite protesters hurled stones at the mainly Sunni regime supporters. Earlier, protesters chanted "Peaceful, peaceful" and handed flowers to police in a bid to avoid violence. Government loyalists chanted "Long live the Bahraini monarchy," and "The people want Khalifa bin Salman," referring to the long-time prime minister whose ouster the opposition demands. (Middle East Online, March 11)

Police opened fire March 10 to disperse protesters at Qatif in Saudi Arabia's mainly Shi'ite east, leaving at least one man injured. Security forces are on alert in the east for a "day of rage" that has been called for the next day, Friday, in defiance of a ban on all demonstrations. Several hundred protesters, some wearing face masks to avoid being identified, marched after dark in Qatif, demanding "Freedom for prisoners." (AP, NYT, March 10) Fighting broke out at a school in the mixed Sunni-Shi'ite town of Sar, Bahrain, after Shi'ite students held an anti-government protest. (The National, UAE; Reuters, March 10)

Six Coptic Christians were shot dead and at least 45 injured in religious clashes with Muslims in the Egyptian capital March 9. Another Copt was killed in clashes with Muslims in Cairo the previous day, as some 1,000 Christians gathered to protest the burning of a church last week. The fighting broke out as dozens of Muslims showed up in the working-class district of Moqattam, inhabited by Copts who work as garbage collectors and who had blocked a main artery in the capital. People threw rocks from both sides and witnesses said soldiers at the scene fired shots into the air.

Thousands of Bahrainis took to the streets on March 7 to protest against the kingdom's naturalization policy, which they say is aimed at changing the demographic balance in the Sunni-ruled but Shi'ite-majority country. Protesters marched on government immigration offices while chanting "Bahrain, free, free! Naturalized people get out!" as well as "The people want to topple the regime!" The Bahrain Youth Movement said in a statement that the demonstration was called to oppose "naturalization... to change the demographics of the country." (Middle East Online, March 9)