DUBAI: A Bahraini youth died over the weekend of a police gunshot wound sustained at the start of the month, the Gulf state’s main Shiite opposition group Al-Wefaq said.
 
Condemning state “repression of demonstrations calling for political reforms,” it said Saida Fadhel Mirza al-Obeidi, 22, was hit in the head on March 1 in Diraz, a village east of Manama.
 
Doctors said his skull was fractured.
 
However, Al-Wefaq hailed “the peaceful and disciplined character” of a protest which flooded the streets of the capital Friday, saying hundreds of thousands had taken part in “the largest rally in the history of Bahrain.”
 
Policemen fired tear gas at a group of protesters but the rally was largely peaceful and no one was arrested, said Nabil Rajab, an activist who heads the Bahraini Center for Human Rights.
 
The royal palace, in a statement, said the demonstration was able to go ahead on the instructions of King Hamad who had called for citizens to be allowed to express themselves freely in a peaceful rally.
 
Protesters called for political reforms in Bahrain, which is ruled by the minority Sunni Al-Khalifa family, and for an elected government, Rajab said.
 
Meanwhile, an adviser to Bahrain’s King Hamad said the Gulf Arab state would hold a “comprehensive dialogue” soon to end a year-long political crisis and the government said it was dropping charges against most medics in a controversial trial.
 
The comments by Nabeel al-Hamer, the king’s media adviser, were published by the state news agency late Friday, after a prominent Shiite cleric led the biggest pro-democracy demonstration since the uprising took off in February 2011. “Hamer said there would soon be a comprehensive dialogue including all elements of Bahraini society and affirmed that everyone wants to end the crisis the country is in,” BNA said.
 
However, a senior figure from Al-Wefaq said the group was not aware any new talks were planned. “We haven’t heard officially from them yet,” said Abdul-Jalil Khalil.
 
Youth activists and dissident groups opposed to the monarchy do not want Al-Wefaq to enter talks with the government. Pro-government Sunni groups, who accuse the opposition of loyalty to Iran, have also called on the government not to enter into talks.
 
Shiites say that talk of Iranian links is a familiar charge with no basis and that it shows a misunderstanding of Shiite Islam.
 
Royal court minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmad met with figures from Wefaq and separately with other opposition parties in January and February to sound them out about negotiations.
 
Activists at Friday’s march outside Manama, which drew an estimated 100,000 people, carried banners saying “No dialogue with killers.”
 
They say at least 28 people have died due to heavy policing since martial law ended in June, many from the effects of tear gas. The government has queried the causes of death.
 
Clashes occur daily between riot police and youths in Shiite districts. The government describes the youths, who throw petrol bombs at police, as vandals and says Al-Wefaq should do more to rein them in.
 
Also Saturday, a statement from the public prosecutor said the authorities would pursue criminal charges against only five of 20 medics on trial in a case that has drawn international criticism.
 
In late September, a military court sentenced the 20 doctors and other medical staff to jail terms of up to 15 years on charges including incitement to overthrow the government and attempting to occupy a hospital, in what critics said was a reprisal for treating mostly Shiite protesters during the uprising.
 
The medics are not in detention and their case was transferred to a civilian court for retrial in October.
 
It did not name the five medics or say what the charges were. Defending lawyer Mohsen al-Alawi said the most serious charge still standing is of attempting to occupy a hospital.
 
The statement said the 15 others would face disciplinary hearings for acts including breaching patient confidentiality by allowing cameras into a hospital, leading political protests inside the hospital, and discriminating against patients based on their sect. The doctors deny these charges.