Bahrain Army Moves to End Protests as Unrest Spreads

Bahrain’s army was deployed in the capital, Manama, after five people were killed in clashes between pro-democracy protesters and police as unrest spread across the Middle East.

The military said it took control of large parts of the city and told people not to congregate in the main public areas. Police earlier used teargas shells and buckshot against mostly Shiite Muslim protesters who had gathered at the city’s Pearl Roundabout traffic junction to call for a constitutional monarchy and a change of government.

The dissent in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, follows the toppling of autocratic rulers by popular movements in Egypt and Tunisia and marks the spread of unrest into the Persian Gulf, where most of the Middle East’s oil is produced. The past week has also seen anti-government protests in Libya, Africa’s biggest holder of crude oil reserves, and Yemen, a producer of liquefied natural gas.

Political risks to oil supply are “high and rising” amid unrest in the Middle East, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said in a report. Oil prices rose following reports from Iranian state-run Press TV that two of the country’s warships were heading for Egypt’s Suez Canal. Brent crude for April settlement climbed 15 cents to $103.93 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London. The contract increased to $103.78 yesterday, the highest settlement since Sept. 25, 2008.