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Clashes in Manama, and earth-moving equipment reportedly brought in to Pearl Roundabout Security forces in Bahrain arrested six key opposition members whom they accused of having contacted “foreign agents”, as a crackdown on a two-month anti-government rebellion continued. Several were accused of incitement to murder. They include Hassan Musaima and Abdul Jalil al-Sangaece, who had been jailed for allegedly plotting to overthrow the monarchy but had been freed in February as part of an amnesty designed to build trust. The pair had been critical of the government since their release. Clashes continued in the capital, Manama, but not on the same scale as the pitched battles on Tuesday and Wednesday which drew strong international condemnation and set Bahrain’s rulers at odds with the US , their key western backers. Friday prayers loom as a further flashpoint in the violent rebellion, which has seen the Shia majority pitch against a ruling Sunni elite. Tensions soared this week after Bahrain’s beseiged rulers invited into the kingdom troops from the Gulf Co-operation Council , led by a contingent from Saudi Arabia, which had felt increasingly threatened by the Shia uprising on its northern border. The Saudi intervention marked a dramatic divergence from a month of peace overtures led by Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, the kingdom’s crown prince. They had done little to stop the rolling protests with main roads and government sites regularly used by demonstrators to call for political reforms and the installation of a political monarchy. The prospect of dialogue appears to have evaporated for now, with the crisis taking on a strong sectarian tone. The crown prince has not commented publicly this week and demonstrators say the death toll of at least seven people this week makes political reconciliation all but impossible. Iraqi Shias took to the streets of the shrine city of Karbala to rail against Saudi Arabia and the crackdown in Bahrain. Demonstrations were also planned in Bahrain. Meanwhile, there were reports of earth moving equipment being brought in to the Pearl Roundabout site, which had been the main base for demonstrators and as significant in Bahrain’s uprising as Tahrir Square was to Egypt. Bystanders reported large diggers being used to carve away at the roundabout lawn, which is topped by a giant white sculpture that serves as one of Manama’s main landmarks. Bahrain Arab and Middle East protests Middle East Martin Chulov guardian.co.uk