Bahrain has requested policing support from its fellow members of the GCC after a day of protests on 13 March disrupted the central business district of Manama amid further clashes between police and demonstrators.

According to the Financial Times, the ruling Al-Khalifa royal family has already requested support from the GCC.

In a day of protests that encompassed the Bahrain Financial Harbour, a key business area for foreign banks, law firms and the stock exchange, police reportedly lost ground to the demonstrators despite forcing protesters from the area early in the morning with teargas and rubber bullets.

The GCC has already announced that Bahrain will receive half of a special $20bn fund created by the GCC’s richer nations to aid development projects in Bahrain and Oman, which has also experienced destabilising protests.