Bahrain Grand Prix untroubled as Channel 4 journalists arrested

Violent disturbances have intensified in recent days with about 50,000 anti-government protesters gathering around the capital Manama, just 25 miles from where the controversial race meeting took place.

Opponents have fought pitched battles with security officials, with claims surfacing that protester Salah Habib Abbas, 37, was killed by shotgun pellets fired by riot police on a rooftop during an overnight raid.

Last night Channel 4 News said its foreign affairs correspondent Jonathan Miller and the rest of his reporting team had been arrested in Bahrain.

The broadcaster said they were working without proper accreditation because they had been denied journalist visas.

The station said it has been in contact with Mr Miller, who was being taken to a police station, and expressed concern about the team’s local driver, who had been assaulted and was said to be bleeding from slashes to his arms.

The race itself passed peacefully, despite rumours that members of the leading opposition party, al-Wefaq, had bought tickets and had planned a protest inside the track.

German Sebastian Vettel won the race in front of a half-full main grandstand, with every other stand empty.

Fahad al-Binali, spokesman for the Bahrain Information Affairs Authority, said he was “surprised” some protesters had campaigned against the race, saying it had provided them with a platform to a global audience.

Foreign Secretary William Hague spoke to the foreign minister of Bahrain on Saturday to express the UK government’s “concern” about the violence.

He called on the Bahraini authorities for “restraint in dealing with protests, including during the Formula One race” and urged “further progress in implementing political reforms”.

Meanwhile, Mercedes and McLaren team bosses Ross Brawn and Martin Whitmarsh criticised British politicians for what they believed was a belated stance on the grand prix.

Mr Brawn said: “I find it very frustrating that politicians in the UK were saying we should withdraw once we got here. Why didn’t they say anything before?

“For somebody to try and make Jenson Button or Lewis Hamilton determine the foreign policy of the country is wrong.”

Prime Minister David Cameron resisted pressure to call for the event’s cancellation insisting it was a matter for the Formula One authorities.

Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke said he did not think the race should be cancelled.

Speaking ahead of the start of the race, he said: “I hope both sides show restraint. I deeply regret that someone appears to have been killed.

“Obviously everybody is imploring them to keep down the level of violence, but I don’t think the cancellation of the grand prix actually would make a very great deal of difference and I don’t think it’s a matter for politicians in Britain to decide whether to or not. Essentially in the end it’s up to Formula One and the people who the run the sport and the teams.”

Labour’s Peter Hain said he thought the “wrong judgment” had been made in staging the race at the current time.

He said: “I’m a Formula One fan myself, I strongly support the sport, but I think they made the wrong judgment in holding this race as a fixed part of the calendar at this time, when human rights abuses are very serious.”

Petrol bombs have been hurled at security officials, tyres set ablaze and anti-grand prix graffiti daubed on walls in ugly scenes which have marred the Gulf kingdom in recent days.

Meanwhile, riot police have used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse throngs of protesters who are demanding democracy and wanted the race to be cancelled. After news of Mr Abbas’s death emerged, Jean Todt, president of Formula One’s governing body, the FIA, remained adamant his conscience was clear and the reputation of the sport remained intact.

The 2011 race was cancelled as international criticism grew over the bloodshed and the Foreign Office advised British motor racing fans against travelling to this year’s event.