Demands to free Omani activists

Protests continued in Oman with more than 150 demonstrators rallying outside government offices in Muscat to call for jobs, political reform and economic development.

Protesters hold signs reading "Stop killing people in Sohar" and "Release our fathers, brothers, and sons" during a protest in front of the Public Prosecution building in Muscat.

MUSCAT // Protesters rallied outside Muscat's parliament building yesterday, demanding the release of dozens of activists arrested on Friday in the northern city of Sohar and an investigation into recent deaths.

The 150 or so protesters, some holding signs reading "We are in solidarity with Sohar", reiterated their calls for jobs, political reform and an end to corruption.

Protesters are seeking a government investigation into the deaths of two protesters that have been blamed on security forces since pro-reform demonstrations began in February.

Security was light outside the Shura Council, the elected house of Oman's parliament, but hundreds of police and military forces supported by armoured vehicles were deployed yesterday near two protest camps in Sohar, about 250 kilometres north of Muscat.

No violence was reported yesterday but Oman's government confirmed the arrest of 60 protesters for their role in the Sohar uprising.

A hospital worker in Sohar said at least one protester was killed in the government crackdown.

Oman's chief public prosecutor, Hussain al Hilali, told the state-run Oman News Agency that protesters shot back at officers, adding that five protesters were wounded, one critically. Witnesses said stone-throwing demonstrators, some wielding knives, clashed with the security forces after Friday prayers in Sohar.

"They threw stones and carried knives while the security forces used tear gas, water cannon to stop the protesters," a witness said. "When that did not work they shot in the air and then used rubber bullets aimed straight at the crowd of demonstrators."

A hospital source at Sohar, who did not want to be identified, said a man in his mid-twenties died with a head wound from a rubber bullet on Friday. If true, this would be the second death in five weeks of protests in Sohar. On February 27, security forces killed 38-year-old businessman Abdulla Al Ghamlasi.

Prior to Friday's violence, protesters had grown increasingly angry after security forces on Tuesday cleared two roundabouts in Sohar where 100 people had camped since late February. The roundabouts, about 15km apart, have been the centre of the protests in Sohar.

Protests in Oman, which produces an estimated 860,000 barrels of oil a day, have focused on government reform and economic opportunity. Many protesters have made allegations of widespread corruption among senior government officials.

Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who has ruled for 40 years, sacked 12 cabinet ministers last month in an effort to appease the pro-refrom movement. He ordered a pay hike for civil servants and pensioners, and promised to create 50,000 jobs.

Some protesters on Friday had set up roadblocks and were charging tolls from drivers, witnesses said, saying they were jobless and needed the money.