Protesters clashed with police in Bahrain today as thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators massed in the capital Manama on the opening day of the Formula One Grand Prix meeting.
Masked youths hurled petrol bombs at police, who had stopped them marching to a main highway in an effort to return to a traffic roundabout that was a gathering point during an uprising last year. Reuters reporters at the scene said police responded by firing tear gas and sound bombs.
As Formula One cars took to the Sakhir circuit for practice, Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman rejected calls from human rights activists and the opposition to cancel Sunday's race, saying that would play into the hands of "extremists".
The protesters, mostly from the majority Shi'ite Muslim community, say they feel sidelined by a Sunni ruling elite, and have made clear they want to use the world's focus on the glitzy Formula One event to air their grievances.
Hundreds of demonstrators wanted to head towards Pearl Roundabout, the initial focus of protests when an uprising demanding the king grant democracy began in February 2011. Clashes ensued when police stopped them.
"They are trying to go to Pearl Square, police are firing tear gas and sound bombs. I can see hundreds, they are still fighting," said activist Sayed Yousif al-Muhafda by telephone.
Protesters said they felt the Grand Prix, which returns to the Gulf island after being cancelled last year, was ill-timed.
"I love cars," said Hassan Mohammed Hassan, who was wearing a red Ferrari T-shirt. "But the situation in Bahrain doesn't allow for Formula One to take place now. We are here to reject Formula One, we don't want it to take place in Bahrain."
Hundreds ran into a shopping mall to escape the tear gas. It was not clear how many were injured in the clashes.
"There was tear gas everywhere," said a witness. "A couple of hundred people took refuge in the mall, they were everyone - kids, grown-ups, women. Some had gas masks, some were choking, some were screaming 'Allahu akbar' (God is great)."
YouTube footage from inside a coffee shop in the mall showed tear gas landing on its terrace as customers screamed. Outside, youths throwing stones faced off against police in riot gear.
Speaking to the media at the Sakhir circuit alongside Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone and in front of TV crews broadcasting live around the world, Crown Prince Salman said: "I think cancelling the race just empowers extremists."
The government, which has been criticised abroad for its suppression of pro-democracy protests, is seen to be using the Grand Prix as a way of showing that life is back to normal after democracy groups launched an Arab Spring-inspired uprising last year. The protests were initially crushed, but have come back in recent months with rallies of thousands and clashes with police.
Human rights organisations have argued that the race should not be held while what they describe as political repression and rights abuses are taking place in Bahrain, host to a U.S. naval base and an ally of neighbouring Saudi Arabia in a tense and economically vital part of the world.
Hackers brought down the F1 website intermittently today and defaced another site, f1-racers.net, to support what they described as the Bahraini people's struggle against oppression.
The crown prince, however, said: "For those of us trying to navigate a way out of this political problem, having the race allows us to build bridges across communities, to get people working together. It allows us to celebrate our nation.
"It is an idea that is positive, not one that is divisive."
British prime minister David Cameronn, a key ally of Bahrain, defended the Bahraini government in comments on the BBC, saying Bahrain could not be compared to Syria where thousands are thought to have died in an ongoing conflict.
"We always stand up for human rights and it's important that peaceful protests are allowed to go ahead," he said. "I think we should be clear Bahrain is not Syria, there is a process of reform under way and this government backs that reform and wants to help promote that reform."
Two of the 12 Formula One teams said their staff had been caught up in an incident where protesters threw petrol bombs while the race crews were on their way back from the track to hotels in Manama.
The Force India team missed today's second practice, citing safety reasons, to make sure staff could get back to their hotels safely before nightfall.
The Sauber team also said it encountered youths with petrol bombs during yesterday's drive home.
Mr Ecclestone, who arrived at the track today, described general security fears as "nonsense" and said Force India had rejected an offer of a security detail.
Only small crowds were seen in the grandstand today for an event that has cost Bahrain an estimated $40 million to stage. The Grand Prix drew 100,000 visitors to the nation of just 1.3 million and generated half a billion dollars in spending when it was last held two years ago.
The leading Shi'ite cleric, Sheikh Isa Qassim, attacked the government in a sermon today for ignoring popular demands.
"This is the crisis of a government that does not want to acknowledge the right of people to rule by themselves and choose their representatives," he said.
Manama is under tight security, with dozens of armoured vehicles stationed around the capital and the road to the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir. Activists say barbed wire has installed near some parts of the main highway.
The death toll from the year of turmoil has risen to around 70, activists say, with many due to heavy use of tear gas. The government disputes the causes of death and accuses protesters in Shi'ite villages of being saboteurs out to harm the police.
Activists say riot police are trying to lock Shi'ites down in their villages to stop them gathering on main highways.
They say around 102 protest organisers have been arrested in night raids in the past week and 54 people wounded in clashes, with heavy use of birdshot. Police have declined to give figures on arrests and injuries.
While sports journalists poured in to cover the race, non-sports reporters from Reuters and some other news organisations have not been granted visas to visit the Gulf island.
"Bahrain wants the international attention brought by hosting a Grand Prix but doesn't want foreign journalists to wander from the race track where they might see political protests," said Robert Mahoney, deputy director of the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York.
Ecclestone said he was not aware of the visa rejections faced by some journalists but said he would investigate.
Bahrain is the base for the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, among whose tasks is deterring Iran from making good on recent threats to disrupt Gulf oil tanker routes to the West. Shi'ite Iran has offer sympathy to its co-religionists in Bahrain, although leaders of the protests deny Tehran is fomenting the unrest.
Washington has only gently prodded Bahrain's rulers to improve their human rights record and push forward political reforms, and does not want to jeopardise ties with a ruling