Thursday, March 03, 2011

Thousands of anti-government protesters marched Wednesday on the Interior Ministry in Bahrain’s capital Manama while the ruling dynasty and the opposition were locked in a deepening standoff, and both sides agree there is no turning back.
Wednesday’s protest was peaceful, and was later countered by large crowds of pro-government Bahrainis rallying in the capital.

Earlier, thousands of anti-regime protesters massed outside the Interior Ministry, in the largest anti-government protest this week.
Protesters of all ages then marched to Pearl Square, the epicenter of a sit-in demanding that the ruling Al-Khalifa dynasty step down, chanting: “Down, down Al-Khalifa” and “No dialogue with the killers.”

Seven protesters were shot dead by security forces in protests last month, four in a deadly police raid in the early hours of Feb. 17 on demonstrators camped in the square, which has since been dubbed “Martyrs’ Roundabout.”
Carrying banners that read “230 years enough – Al-Khalifa leave” and “No dialogue,” thousands of demonstrators in two gender-segregated processions stopped at a makeshift shrine along the King Faisal Highway dedicated to Abdel-Rida Buhamid, who was killed on Feb. 17 by police gunfire.
“How can we expect security when the army shoots and kills the innocent?” asked one woman who stopped to pray at the shrine.

Students at Bahraini schools were also protesting Wednesday.
Later, supporters of the Sunni ruling Al-Khalifa dynasty gathered outside Al-Fateh mosque in Manama, waving Bahraini flags and pledging support to King Hamad. State television put their number at 300,000 demonstrators, a figure that could not be independently verified.

The Shiite-led opposition said it wants to join the dialogue proposed by Crown Prince Salman following deadly protests, but only after the government resigns.
An official said Wednesday the government’s patience “has its limits.”
“The situation in Bahrain is now irreversible. The regime knows it cannot turn back, and the opposition will certainly not back down,” Ali Fakhro, a political analyst and former education minister, told AFP.

“I think the government is well aware that there is a problem that must be dealt with and that ignoring the demands of protesters … will only give rise to the same problems again.”
The Shiite-led coalition of Bahraini opposition groups is adamant in demanding the resignation of the government before the wide-reaching talks offered by Crown Prince Salman.

“Our primary demand is the resignation of the current government and its replacement with a government of national salvation,” said MP Jalil Khalil, head of the Shiite Al-Wifaq parliamentary bloc which is spearheading the seven-group opposition alliance.

Such a government should be “formed of technocrats representing both the Sunni and Shiite communities,” he told AFP.
“The opposition has not refused dialogue,” said Khalil, whose bloc resigned from Parliament in protest at the killing of seven demonstrators last month.

“It is seeking guarantees before heading to the table, including a deadline and the clear outlining of the steps that will be taken, such as the implementation of the national charter.”
In response to demonstrations, King Hamad charged Crown Prince Salman, with launching dialogue, a move the anti-government camp has dismissed as insufficient.

Since thousands of protesters took to the streets two weeks ago there has been no formal dialogue between the government and the opposition.
Tens of thousands of mainly Shiite protesters marched Tuesday from a hospital in Manama to Pearl Square, the focal point of the protests.

Late Tuesday, a group of about 100 protesters started to erect tents outside the Bahrain Financial Harbor, one of Bahrain’s largest business towers and home to international banks and businesses. But a Shiite cleric asked them to return to Pearl Square, which they did at around midnight. – Agencies