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breaking up and so was our whole Middle East position (Selwyn Lloyd
was fooled in Cairo and stoned in Bahrein). 553

No major events were recorded immediately following the stoning of Lloyd’s

procession and negotiations between the Administration and the HEC, mediated by

the Residency, seemed to be moving towards an eventual resolution. But the

morning of 11 March proved catastrophic, as a minor quarrel in the vegetable

market in Manama became a deadly affair and developed into a general strike. The

event turned the Prime Minister’s attention once again to Bahrain and a demand for

the arrest of the opposition. Nonetheless, negotiations continued locally and

resulted in a colossal political breakthrough as the next Chapter details.

553 W. Clark, From Three Worlds: William Clark Memoirs (London: 1986), 162, hereafter From Three
Worlds.

© Hamad E. Abdulla 176