Police Use Stun Grenades As Kim Kardashian Arrives In Bahrain

The scene descended into pandemonium on Saturday (December 1, 2012) when reality star Kim Kardashian landed in Bahrain to launch a milk shake franchise. According to Gulfnews.com, the television celebrity promoted protests from angry Muslim hardliners, with police forced to throw stun grenades to placate the crowds.

Around 100 Sunny Salafists demonstrated outside the upmarket shopping mall The Walk Bahrain in the capital Manama, though thousands of fans had paid for a ticket to meet the 32-year-old inside. Eye witnesses said police managed to disperse the demonstrators with stun grenades as the event continued without drama. Kardashian had stirred controversy before her previous store opening in Kuwait, tweeting, "MPs should focus their time on solving key political, economic and social issues" in response to Sunni Muslim MP's presenting a motion that called Kardashian "an actress with an extremely bad reputation." The assembly did not vote on the issue.

Bahrain is attempting to overcome years of unrest among its Shiite Muslims who demand political reform and equality with the Sunni Muslims, who rule the kingdom. Tweeting after landing back in Miami, Kim thanked the businessmen who helped bring about the Kuwait and Bahrain trip, saying, "Thanks @sheerazhasan and Paresh A Shah for an amazing trip to The Kingdom of Bahrain and Kuwait. We did it!!!"