The United States military denied Wednesday press reports it had flown out any servicemen from the Kingdom of Bahrain following a row with a local shop owner that sparked a mass disturbance and an anti-US protest.
"None of the servicemen have been flown home," Lieutenant Chris Davies, spokesman of the US Fifth Fleet, told AFP.
"The investigation is ongoing and we are cooperating with the local authorities," Davies said.
Bahrain's Gulf Daily News reported that "several US military personnel" had been flown out late Tuesday, while two others remained in hospital and "would be flown out as soon as they were well enough."
Meanwhile, the main Shiite Muslim opposition group in Bahrain, the Islamic National Accord Association (INAA), demanded an "official apology" from the Fifth Fleet over the incident.
"We request the formation of an inquiry commission ... and an official apology to the Bahraini people from the institution to which these young Americans belong," it said in a statement received by AFP in Dubai.
The statement accused the US servicemen of having attacked Bahraini citizens and Bahraini security forces of "having done nothing to stop the assault."
Sunday's incident in a Manama suburb was sparked by a dispute between a Bahraini shop owner and the pregnant Ethiopian wife of a US serviceman over a down-payment for a wedding dress.
Dozens of young Bahrainis protested at what they called the police's failure to intervene in the incident and demanded "the departure of US military personnel" from the kingdom, a close ally of the United States.
The incident came against a backdrop of mounting anti-US sentiment in the country, home to the Fifth Fleet,- over Washington's perceived bias for Israel.
Hundreds of US military and civilian personnel at the US Navy facilities at the Al-Jufair naval base east of Manama were called to two meetings Tuesday to remind them they were "guests" in the Bahraini kingdom.
Naval Support Activity commander Captain Roy Holbrook advised personnel to walk away from potentially aggressive situations, Davies of the Fifth Fleet said.
"Current anti-US sentiment amongst some people could ignite even a normal disagreement," Holbrook warned. "The US Navy is not here to support trouble of this kind."
In the meantime, the embassy has advised Americans in Manama to "take seriously" security advice offered by the State Department and keep a low profile, avoid large public gatherings and vary travel routes and times. (Albawaba.com)
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