American journalists arrested while covering Bahrain clashes

Bahraini authorities have arrested four Americans, including journalists, during protests marking the fifth anniversary of the Gulf kingdom's 'Arab Spring' uprising, police said on Monday.

One of the four was Anna Therese Day, an American independent journalist, while the other three were members of a film crew, Day's family said in a statement issued later in the day.

A US State Department spokesman said it was "aware of reports that US citizens have been arrested" but said it would not comment further due to privacy considerations.

They were arrested in the Shia town of Sitra on Sunday during clashes between security forces and protesters, a police statement said. 

Photographs obtained by the Middle East Eye show one of the four being arrested.

"The other three were arrested at a security checkpoint in the same area."

The four entered Bahrain between February 11 and 12 and "provided false information to concerned authorities", claiming to be tourists, police said.

However, "some of those arrested had carried out journalistic activities without permission from concerned authorities, in addition to carrying out illegal acts."

Their case has been referred to the public prosecution.

Day's family called for the four's immediate release and said they had done nothing wrong.

"The allegation that they were in any way involved in illegal behaviour or anything other than journalistic activities is impossible," a spokesperson for the family said in a statement.

Rights groups also criticised their detention, with the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists branding Bahrain "one of the worst jailers of journalists in the Arab world".

"It is sad that the fifth anniversary of the protests is marked by the arrest of yet more journalists in Bahrain," said Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator Sherif Mansour.

Activist Brian Dooley from Human Rights First called the arrests "another alarming reminder of how dangerous Bahrain is for reporters," urging Washington to "stand up to its repressive military ally".

Day is an award-winning journalist who has reported extensively from the Middle East, North Africa and elsewhere, and her work has been featured in news outlets including the New York Times and CNN.

Home to the US Fifth Fleet, Bahrain was rocked by an Arab Spring-inspired uprising demanding reforms and a constitutional monarchy on February 14, 2011.

Authorities crushed the protest movement one month later. But demonstrators still take to streets and clash with police in Shia towns surrounding Manama.