MANAMA, Jan 22: Bahrain has arrested nine people for taking part in a violent protest last week, a newspaper reported on Sunday. “Some of them have admitted taking part in the rally and committing acts of sabotage,” the Gulf Daily News quoted a prosecution spokesman as saying.

The newspaper said the nine Bahrainis were suspected of taking part in arson attacks to destabilise the small Gulf kingdom.

Police clashed on Thursday with demonstrators demanding the release of 10 youths who were arrested after a sit-in at the country’s airport last month.

Around 100 people took part in a demonstration in Jidhafs town, about five kilometres outside the capital Manama. Some later set ablaze a number of trash containers and ignited tires.

The airport sit-in was prompted by the arrest of a Shia cleric as he returned from Iran. The cleric, Sheikh Mohammed Sanad, who Interior Ministry officials said was detained on security charges, was freed after being held briefly.—Reuters