"ملف 32/10 (4/18) ممارسات إحياء ذكرى محرّم" [و‎‎٣‎٢] (٩٠/٦٣)

4-
to them that Mahmood bin Abdulnabi had been killed
by the Bin Rejab people* During the fighting the
torches and lamps were hurled to the ground, oil
spilt and caught fire and this added to the general
confusion. The whole incident however only lasted
a few minutes and when I arrived, at midnight, every
thing was quiet but the two matems were full of men
who had shut themselves in. They were told to go
back to their homes quietly which they did.
About 20 arrests were made and the case is now
being dealt with by the Bahrain Court. Three men
are in hospital with broken heads and a number of
people are said to have received superficial injuries.
Several of the police were injured but none seriously.
There are no grounds whatever for supposing that
the quarrel was a political onej* between Persians and
Bahama. These communities, in Manamah, are on good
terms. The headman of the Bin Re jab matem is the
father-in-law of Mahmood bin Abdulnabi, one of the
leaders of the Persian matem and many of the members
of the two matems are related to each other.
On the following morning I reported the matter
to His Highness Shaikh Hamad and asked his permission
to forbid any processions on the last night of the
ten days n Leilat Ashur". His Highness, with consi
derable reluctance, agreed to my suggestion. The
heads of matems whose members usually take part in
the processions were informed that no night processions
would be permitted. At the same time they were told
that the day time procession on the morning of the
10 th would be allowed provided that the heads of each
matem gave personal guarantees that they would obey