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 The media campaign group Reporters Without Borders said on Monday
that a U.S. journalist and three members of her camera crew had been
detained in Bahrain on Sunday, and urged their release.
It named the journalist as Anna Day, who has reported in the Middle
East, north Africa, Asia and Latin America for numerous media
outlets, mostly American.
The group's lawyer, Mohammed al-Jishi, told Reuters by telephone
they were being transferred to a police station and should be
released within an hour. He said the public prosecutor had not
issued any decision that would prevent them traveling.
Public Prosecutor for Manama Nawwaf al-Awadi said in a statement
that security forces had arrested the four Americans while they were
"participating with a group of saboteurs who were carrying out riot
acts in Sitra".
 Sitra is a Shi'ite village east of Manama where clashes between
demonstrators and security forces have been taking place this week
to mark the fifth anniversary of Arab Spring protests in 2011,
mainly by Shi'ite Muslims demanding reforms and a bigger share in
government.
The prosecution statement, carried by the Bahrain News Agency, said
the four Americans had been interrogated in the presence of their
lawyers.
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It said the group had been found with cameras and computers, and
were accused of "disturbing public order and exposing modes of
transport to danger".
A witness told Reuters that the three men and a woman had left the
prosecution office in a white minivan with tinted windows, followed
by a police patrol car.
The U.S. State Department had said it was aware of reports that U.S.
citizens had been arrested but declined further comment. The U.S.
Embassy in Bahrain could not immediately be reached for comment.
(Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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