Bahrain Crowd Attacks U.S. Sailors After Car Accident

If your car was surrounded by a mob trying to break your car windows and kill you and your wife, you'd probably step on the gas, too.

Without a doubt, only after that, the crowd would see my reverse lights a couple times..

Yousif said the sailors began destroying the shop, punching his wife and her sister, who is three months pregnant. Two Indian tailors employed at the store tried to intervene and were beaten by the sailors, he said

This just torpedoed the business-owner's credibility (pun intended).

Much as I didn't like SW guys, I have never seen a ship-mate ever attack a woman, unless he was first attacked (and usually, it has to be very serious, where the guy may really get hurt, before he'll start to defend himself.

Granted, there are some bad apples in there (as in any group), but this stinks to high heaven!!!!

Ethopian women are some of the most beautiful I've seen. Lots here in Northern Virginia.

"Eitheopian Bride........yikes!"

Body piercings and nose rings are quite popular now, its doesn't carry such a stigma...bhaaaaaaaaa. Poor swaby after many months at sea even a mermaid starts to look good.

Ok now I got to go look for my asbestos underwear.

Local paper is downplaying it. Not a lead article:

US regrets salon clash
By EBTIHAL AL TAWASH
Gulf Daily News
Tuesday 28 May 2002
US military officials are helping Bahrain police probe an alleged attack on staff at a Budaiya bridal shop and beauty salon.
One Bahraini woman was injured when she was hit by a car as a group of Westerners tried to flee the scene of the incident, on Sunday night.
Three US military personnel and the wife of one them were reportedly injured when an angry crowd retaliated, as word of the incident spread.
US Navy officials are co-operating fully with local authorities investigating the incident, the US Embassy said in a statement issued yesterday.
"An incident occurred in Budaiya in which two American military personnel and the wife of one of them sustained serious injuries," said the statement.
"The US Navy authorities are co-operating fully with the appropriate Bahraini authorities to determine responsibility for the incident and to take the appropriate action.
"The US Embassy and the US Navy regret this unfortunate incident and will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure the appropriate behaviour of our personnel, who are guests in Bahrain."
US Navy spokesman Lieutenant Chris Davis said two of the people reported to be involved in the incident were military personnel.
One of the men's Ethiopian wife was also reportedly involved, he said.
"The incident is being investigated in collaboration with the public investigation," Lt Davis told the GDN.
"We cannot give more details about what happened as the investigation is not done yet."
The Ethiopian woman reportedly attacked the manageress and other staff in the Frashat Al Araiyes bridal shop and beauty salon, on Budaiya Highway, in a row over BD10, after returning a hired wedding dress.
Manageress Fakhriya Saeed Khalifa said the woman went berserk.
"The fight had happened when the lady and her friend came to return the wedding dress she had rented earlier," said Ms Khalifa.
Her sister Rabab Khalifa owns the shop and it was another sister, Sameera, who was injured by the car as the Westerners fled.
"We usually take BD30 insurance for the dress and when she returned the dress I gave her the insurance money and her CPR back," said Ms Khalifa.
"She insisted that we owed her another BD10, which we didn't. The only thing we owed her was the insurance money, which was given back to her.
"She got hysterical when I told her this and began swearing and spitting at me, then she attacked me and started breaking things.
"When my sister Rabab tried to stop her she began hitting both of us.
"She was so hysterical that even when our Indian workers intervened to stop her, they had to go through a rough struggle before they succeeded."
Ms Khalifa said the woman left, but quickly returned with a Western man and attacked them again.
By this time, the sisters had already called the police.
As police were dealing with the incident in the bridal shop, on the third floor of the building, another group of Westerners attacked the beauty salon, on the floor below, said Ms Khalifa.
"When we went down, we saw four men and three girls trying to break into the ladies beauty salon," she said.
"They were carrying metal batons and were hitting the door.
"The girls at the salon were terrified and they managed to lock the door on them in order to protect themselves."
Ms Khalifa said one of the women threw liquid at her, which hit an Indian staff member who stepped in to protect her.
"His eyes were hurting him a lot and he couldn't open them for a while, even after he washed them," she said.
"We didn't know what that stuff was. The police took it for testing."
By the time police got the group outside, a large crowd of Bahraini men had gathered
"When the Westerners saw the crowds they were scared and tried to drive away," said Ms Khalifa.
"They were in two cars, the Ethiopian woman and two men in a Bahraini-registered white car, and the rest of the gang in a Saudi-registered green car.
"The green car managed to leave, but the white car hit Sameera, while they were leaving.
"The Bahraini guys then attacked the car."
Ms Khalifa said Sameera suffered a broken leg and other minor injuries, but had been released from Sulmaniya Medical Complex.
It is understood an American man and the Ethiopian woman were still in the BDF Hospital yesterday.