Bahrain frees prisoners to mollify protesters (Reuters)

MANAMA (Reuters) – Bahrain has freed 23 people accused of trying to topple the island's Sunni Muslim monarchy, along with more than 200 other mostly Shi'ite prisoners detained in recent months, a lawyer said on Wednesday.

The prisoner release was a further concession to the mainly Shi'ite protesters who took to the streets last week to demand a constitutional monarchy and an elected government, emboldened by a surge of popular unrest across the Arab world.

It also preceded the expected return to Bahrain of Hassan Mushaimaa, leader of the hardline Shi'ite Haq party, one of two people tried in absentia for his part in the alleged coup plot.

Mohammed al-Tajer, a lawyer for the 23 activists, told Reuters that about 250 prisoners had been released. Most were detained as part of a crackdown launched on some Shi'ite opposition groups last August and during subsequent protests.

The opposition describes youngsters arrested during clashes with security forces in Shi'ite villages as political prisoners.

Tajer said detainees picked up in last week's confrontations between security forces and protesters had been freed earlier.

He said it was not clear if the 25 charged in the coup plot had received royal pardons or if the case could be revived.

"If this is just a suspension of the charges, they might bring up the case again or file other charges. We're waiting for an official statement," he said.

Opposition leaders welcomed the prisoner release.

"Allowing the people to protest and releasing those people are positive moves," said Ibrahim Mattar of the main Shi'ite Wefaq party. Opposition groups were waiting for the royal family to accept the principle of a constitutional monarchy before they would enter into a dialogue offered by the king, he added.

Majority Shi'ites have long complained of discrimination in Sunni-ruled Bahrain, which is a close U.S. and Saudi ally.

King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa was in Riyadh to welcome home Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah from an extended absence due to ill-health, a sign of tight ties between the Bahraini royals and their far stronger Saudi counterparts. Saudi Arabia is concerned unrest in Bahrain might spread to its own Shi'ite minority.

Bahrain's 70 percent Shi'ite majority wants to overhaul a system where parliament has little power and policy remains the preserve of an elite centered on the royal al-Khalifa family.

The al-Khalifa dynasty has ruled Bahrain for 200 years, and the family dominates a cabinet led by the king's uncle, who has been prime minister since independence from Britain in 1971.

Before the prisoner release, Bahrain's rulers had agreed to allow peaceful protests and had offered dialogue on reform.

"The main point we are waiting for is the initiative for political reform. Until now they didn't promise anything," Mattar said. "If they don't say it, we are wasting our time."

YOUTHS EMERGE FROM JAIL

Protesters had demanded the release of political prisoners in Bahrain, where seven people were killed and hundreds wounded in demonstrations last week.

In the first releases, late on Tuesday night, two dozen relatives waited at the jail for teenaged prisoners, who emerged one by one with solemn, unshaven faces. Some waved victory signs. One waiting mother tossed a sprig of basil in the air to welcome her freed son, a Reuters photographer said.

The 23 men jailed for the coup plot, who include some Shi'ite clerics, were put on trial in October after a broad security crackdown on some Shi'ite opposition groups in August.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised Bahrain's king and crown prince for freeing political prisoners, allowing peaceful demonstrations and offering talks with the opposition.

"These steps will need to be followed by concrete actions and reforms," she told reporters on Tuesday, warning that "there is no place for violence against peaceful protesters."

Bahrain is a small but strategic U.S. ally that hosts the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet in a region shadowed by fears of Iran's nuclear ambitions.

In Bahrain, as in Egypt and Tunisia, the United States has tried to walk a difficult line in dealing with popular revolts against entrenched Arab leaders long allied to Washington.

"Across the Middle East, people are calling on their governments to be more open, more accountable and more responsive. Without genuine progress toward open and accountable political systems the gap between people and their governments can only grow and instability can only deepen," Clinton said.

Mushaimaa, the Shi'ite opposition leader, was due to have returned from exile in London on Tuesday, but was barred from a Bahrain-bound flight from Beirut where he had stopped over.

Tens of thousands of Shi'ite protesters filled streets in Manama on Tuesday demanding the fall of the Sunni-run government in the biggest protest since unrest began last week.

The Bahrain government denies it treats Shi'ites unfairly. In a rally covered by state television on Monday, thousands carried Bahraini flags and signs supporting unity and dialogue.

(Reporting by Cynthia Johnston in Dubai, and Mohammed Arshad and Andrew Quinn in Washington; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Louise Ireland)

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Bahrain opposition figure to return in test for talks (Reuters)

MANAMA (Reuters) – A Bahraini opposition figure was set to return to the Gulf Arab country on Tuesday after a week of unprecedented protests by majority Shi'ite Muslims against the U.S.-backed Sunni monarchy.

Hassan Mushaimaa, leader of the opposition Haq movement, said on his Facebook page on Monday that he wanted to see if the island nation's leadership was serious about dialogue and would arrest him or not. He was due to arrive on Tuesday evening.

Mushaimaa, who is based in London, is one of 25 people on trial since last year over an alleged coup plot but a statement by King Hamad bin Isa on Monday hinted that the trial would be shelved, allowing Mushaimaa an unhindered return.

State media said the king had ordered the release of unspecified convicted prisoners and a stop to ongoing court cases, in what opposition figures say they understand to be a reference to the trial.

It was not clear if this would be enough to bring opposition groups into a dialogue that King Hamad has asked his son, the crown prince, to conduct. The protests, inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, were peaceful but seven people died and hundreds were wounded after police tried to break them up.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has condemned attempts by security forces to crush the protest movement on an island that hosts the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, limiting the government's room for maneuver.

The protesters want Bahrain to move toward a constitutional monarchy, in contrast to the current system where Bahrainis vote for a parliament that has little power and policy remains the preserve of a ruling elite centered on the ruling dynasty.

The al-Khalifa family, which has ruled Bahrain for 200 years, dominates a cabinet led by the king's uncle, who has been prime minister for 40 years since independence in 1971.

The opposition also wants the release of political prisoners.

On Monday the government canceled the March 13 opening race of the Formula One season in Bahrain. "At the present time the country's entire attention is focused on building a new national dialogue for Bahrain," Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa said in a statement.

PEARL SQUARE

Protesters have set up camp at Pearl Square in the capital Manama where some 10,000 gathered on Monday demanding more say in a country whose Sunni ruling elite is seen by the West and Arab allies such as neighboring Saudi Arabia as a bulwark against the influence of Shi'ite power Iran.

Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil producer, has a restive Shi'ite minority of its own in its Eastern Province.

Bahraini Shi'ites reject the idea that their affiliations are to Iran, saying such attitudes are typical of discrimination that extends to housing and jobs.

Although Shi'ite Muslims account for about 70 percent of the population, they are a minority in Bahrain's 40-seat parliament due to an electoral process that they say shuts them out.

The government denies that it treats Shi'ites unfairly and in a rally widely covered by state television on Monday, thousands carried Bahraini flags and signs supporting unity and the dialogue proposed by the government.

A resolution read at the rally rejected any attempt to question the government's legitimacy, but also called for the release of prisoners of conscience.

Mushaimaa's Haq movement is more radical than the Shi'ite Wefaq party, from which it split in 2006 when Wefaq contested a parliamentary election. Wefaq's 17 MPs resigned last week in protest at the state's use of violence on the protesters.

Haq's leaders often have been arrested in recent years, only to receive royal pardons. Some were rearrested in the crackdown last year, when 25 Shi'ite activists including Mushaimaa were charged with trying to overthrow the government violently.

(Writing by Andrew Hammond; editing by Myra MacDonald)

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As Mideast seethes, 3 dead in Bahrain bloodshed (Reuters)

MANAMA (Reuters) – Unrest spread across the Middle East and North Africa on Thursday as Bahrain launched a swift military crackdown on anti-government protesters and clashes were reported in Libya and Yemen.

Troops in armored vehicles took control of the Bahraini capital after police firing buckshot and teargas drove out protesters hoping to emulate demonstrators who toppled veteran leaders in Egypt and Tunisia.

It was the worst violence in the Gulf island kingdom in decades and a sign of the nervousness felt by Bahrain's Saudi-allied Sunni al-Khalifa royal family, long aware of simmering discontent among the country's majority Shi'ites.#

Three people were killed, 231 were injured and opposition leaders said dozens were detained and about 60 were missing.

"They are killing us!" one demonstrator told Reuters.

After the violence in Bahrain, hundreds of Yemenis clashed again during a seventh day of anti-government protests on the other side of the Arabian peninsula, and in North Africa there were reports of new unrest in Libya.

A Libyan "Day of Rage" promoted on social media websites for Thursday started with little sign of activity in the capital, where supporters of Muammar Gaddafi, in power for 42 years, staged a rally in his support.

But a resident of the eastern city of Benghazi told Reuters there were clashes on Thursday in the nearby town of Al Bayda between government supporters and relatives of two young men killed during a protest a day earlier.

In Iraq, one person was killed and 33 wounded when police opened fire on anti-government protesters in the northern city of Sulaimaniya, medical sources and witnesses said.

"Profound social and economic issues throughout the Middle East and North Africa will continue to serve as a driving force for further unrest," said political risk analyst Anthony Skinner at the Maplecroft consultancy. "Protests in Bahrain and Libya reflect the ease with which protests have spread in the region."

Such worries helped push Brent crude prices to a 28-month high of $104 a barrel at one point on Thursday and were a factor in gold prices extending early gains to four-week highs.

SUICIDE TRIGGER

It was two months to the day on Thursday since a young Tunisian, Mohamed Bouazizi, triggered the wave of protests by setting himself alight on December 17 outside a government office in the rundown city of Sidi Bouzid. He was venting frustration at grinding poverty, official corruption and police brutality.

Since Tunisia's aging strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled a month later, followed a week ago by Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, opposition groups in a dozen or more countries have lived in hope the Arab world might experience a "domino effect" of the kind that swept communists from power in eastern Europe in 1989.

Oil and gas riches, as well as formidable police forces, give rulers the means to fend off challenges. But the way in which Ben Ali and Mubarak were overthrown after their armies refused to crush popular uprisings has given many pause.

Leaders from the Gulf to the Atlantic have announced a variety of measures to ease rising food prices and unemployment and to enhance political participation.

The oil-rich United Arab Emirates said on Thursday it would treble the number of people the rulers would choose to vote for members of an advisory body that serves as a form of parliament.

But Middle Eastern leaders have also tightened security.

The army in Bahrain, a country of 1.3 million people out of whom 600,000 are native Bahrainis, issued a warning to people to stay away from the center of the capital and said it would do whatever was needed to maintain security.

At Pearl Square, abandoned tents, blankets and rubbish were scattered about and the smell of teargas wafted through the air.

Helicopters clattered over the city, which is a regional hub for banks and home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet.

SECTARIAN DIMENSION

The protesters want the Sunni ruling family to relinquish its control over top government posts and address grievances held by the country's majority Shi'ites who complain of economic hardships, lack of political freedoms and discrimination in jobs in public service and the military in favor of Sunnis.

The sectarian aspect of the violence in Bahrain could fuel discontent among the Shi'ite minority in neighboring Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter.

"This is real terrorism," said Abdul Jalil Khalil of Bahrain's Shi'ite party Wefaq, which said it would withdraw from a parliament which has very limited powers. "Whoever took the decision to attack the protest was aiming to kill."

Western powers have been caught in a dilemma between backing rulers whom they see as bulwarks against anti-Western Islamists and at the same time being seen to promote democracy.

In Bahrain, Saudi and Western officials fear majority rule could help their adversaries in Shi'ite-ruled Iran.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague warned against any interference in Bahrain by other nations and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed "deep concern" at events there.

In Yemen, where dozens were wounded in the capital Sanaa during rock-throwing clashes between protesters and government loyalists, demonstrators want rid of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled for 32 years but is seen by Washington as a key ally in its fight against al Qaeda Islamists based in Yemen.

(Writing by Alastair Macdonald and Philippa Fletcher; editing by Samia Nakhoul)

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Bahrain protesters took back Pearl Square. What next? (The Christian Science Monitor)

Manama, Bahrain – Just days after a brutal crackdown at the hands of Bahrain's security forces, protesters in the tiny Gulf Arab nation are feeling confident that their demonstrations will help oust the Sunni Muslim dynasty that has long ruled their majority Shiite country.
Protesters flooded jubilantly back into Pearl Square in the center of Bahrain's capital, Manama, Saturday after troops pulled out following clashes Thursday night that killed four.
"Today we took [Pearl Square] back, tomorrow we take our country back!” said Ahmed Suwayha yesterday evening as threw up his two fingers to signal the victory anti-regime protesters felt they achieved after the troops pulled out.
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Mr. Suwayha was one of thousands of anti-regime protesters, many of whom were waving the country’s red flag and chanting slogans such as “the king and his cronies don’t speak for us.” But as the young protesters in Pearl Square call for regime change and the immediate ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, who is an uncle of Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, opposition leaders remain hesitant to press for too much at once.
Shiite opposition wants reforms ...Inspired by events in Tunisia and Egypt, Bahrain’s Shiite majority – which accounts for 70 percent of the population – is clamoring for reforms that would give it a greater voice in the government. But the ruling Sunnis that account for the other 30 percent have long been reluctant to make changes that would dilute their power.
The protests began when a faceless Facebook campaign urged Bahrainis to descend on Pearl Square on Feb. 14 to press for political reform.
The Shiite opposition parties have long demanded reforms such as transforming the regime into a constitutional monarchy, an end to gerrymandering electoral districts and more jobs in government ministries. Opposition leaders met Sunday to discuss which specific demands they want to press in coming days.
... but the youth want regime changeIn the wake of the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, however, the country’s youth have become emboldened and have pressed for more radical change. They have chanted slogans such as “the people want an end to this regime” and “death to the al-Khalifa family.”
Startled by their passions, the Shiite opposition, led by the al-Wefaq party, has discovered its room to maneuver has been constrained. Trying to keep up with the youths’ demands, it quit Parliament last week.
The regime has asked the opposition to enter into negotiations to find a way out of the impasse. But with tensions running high, al-Wefaq and its allies are reluctant to negotiate, partly out of fear that the few concessions the government may offer will not satisfy the angry youth.
“I don’t think the regime is willing to meet most of our demands. But even if it does, I am not sure it will be enough to get the youth off the street. It is personal now,” said al-Wefaq parliamentarian Jassim Hussein.
The regime sought to placate protesters Saturday when the crown prince called for a national day of mourning for the 6 who died this week. But a similar call by the king earlier in the week was followed by the storming of Pearl Square on Thursday.
“We don’t trust anything the al-Khalifas say anymore," says Mansur, a young web designer. "We want them gone. We want a new regime without them."
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Bahrain army withdrawn, police attack protesters (Reuters)

MANAMA (Reuters) – Bahraini troops and armored vehicles on Saturday rolled out of a Manama square that had been a base for anti-government protesters, meeting one opposition condition for a dialogue proposed by the king.

But when a few protesters tried to regain their former stronghold in Pearl Square, police beat them back.

At least 100 riot police took up position, while a group of about 50 demonstrators stood about 50 meters (yards) away.

One man raced to the center of the traffic circle, fell to his knees to kiss the yellowed grass and began praying as other protesters celebrated. Moments later, 10 police cars pulled up and policemen beat up one protester and fired teargas.

At least 100 riot police took up position, while a group of about 50 demonstrators stood about 50 meters (yards) away.

Troops in tanks and armored vehicles took over the traffic circle on Thursday after riot police attacked protesters who had camped out there, killing four people and wounding 231.

Bahrain's crown prince announced that all troops had been ordered off the streets and that police would maintain order.

"That's a very positive step," Jasim Hussain, a member of the main Shi'ite Wefaq bloc that quit parliament on Thursday, told Reuters. "They're trying to ease the tensions. I don't know whether it will be sufficient."

Wefaq had earlier rejected a call by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa for a national dialogue to end the unrest that has rocked Bahrain since Monday, saying troops must be withdrawn first, among other conditions.

Another Wefaq lawmaker said the troop pullout was not enough by itself. "There's no difference if people are killed by the military or by the security forces," said Ibrahim Mattar.

"STOP KILLING PEOPLE"

"We hope to hear a clear message from the government that it will stop killing people who are protesting peacefully."

Mattar said the king must accept the "concept" of constitutional monarchy, as well as withdrawing the military.

"Then we can go for a temporary government of new faces that would not include the current interior or defense ministers."

He reiterated an opposition demand for the king to fire his uncle, Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, prime minister since Bahrain gained its independence in 1971.

"We are not going to enter a dialogue as Shi'ites," Mattar said. "They try to put the issue in this frame. The dialogue should be with all people who were protesting. Some are liberal, non-Islamic. Some are Sunni and some Shi'ite."

Shi'ites, who make up about 70 percent of Bahraini nationals feel cut out of decision-making in the Sunni-ruled state and complain of discrimination in access to state jobs and housing.

On Friday, the king offered a national dialogue with all parties to try to end the turmoil fueled by Shi'ite grievances in which six people have been killed and hundreds wounded.

U.S. President Barack Obama spoke to King Hamad on Friday, condemning the violence and urging the government to show restraint and respect the rights of its people.

MILITARY ORDERED TO WITHDRAW

"Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, has ordered the withdrawal of all military from the streets of Bahrain with immediate effect," a statement said on Saturday.

"The Bahrain police force will continue to oversee law and order."

More than 60 people were in hospital with wounds sustained on Friday when security forces fired on protesters as they headed to Pearl Square, then still in military hands.

Also on Friday, Shi'ite mourners buried the four people killed in the raid on Pearl Square, which protesters had hoped to turn into a base like Cairo's Tahrir Square, the heart of a revolt that ousted Egypt's Hosni Mubarak.

The European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton voiced concern about reports on violence by the security forces. "I urge the Bahraini authorities to respect fundamental human rights including freedom of expression and the right to assemble freely," she said, appealing to all parties to use restraint.

Young activists had also called for an open-ended strike from Sunday and the closure of all public and private schools on a Facebook page called the "February 14 revolution in Bahrain."

They demanded that protesters be allowed back into Pearl Square, the release of all political prisoners and word on the fate of missing people, as well as the resignations of the defense and interior ministers and the security chief.

A naval base near Manama that hosts the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet helps the United States to project power across the Middle East and Central Asia, including Iraq and Afghanistan.

A Fleet spokesman said there was no significant impact on operations and Jennifer Stride, spokeswoman for the U.S. naval base, said no evacuation of families was planned.

The United States is caught between the desire for stability in an ally seen as a bulwark against Iran and the need to uphold the people's right to express their grievances.

The unrest in Bahrain, a minor non-OPEC oil producer and regional banking hub, has shaken confidence in the economy.

In 1999, King Hamad introduced a constitution allowing elections for a parliament with some powers, but royals still dominate a cabinet led by the king's uncle for 40 years.

(Additional reporting by Michael Georgy in Manama, Ross Colvin in Washington and Charlie Dunmore in Brussels; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

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Bahrain police teargas protesters as Libyans clash (Reuters)

MANAMA (Reuters) – Two of the Middle East's most entrenched rulers were battling to quell unrest on Saturday after security forces killed dozens of protesters in Libya and police fired teargas at demonstrators in the Bahraini capital.

Unrest has spread from Tunisia and Egypt to Bahrain, Libya, Yemen and Djibouti, as people of one country after another shed their fear of oppressive, autocratic rulers and took to the streets demanding democratic change and economic opportunity.

Protesters in Algiers on Saturday were surrounded by police and corralled into a courtyard, pro- and anti-government crowds in the Yemeni capital Sanaa hurled stones at each other, and protesters clashed with security forces in Djibouti.

Libyan security forces killed 35 people in the eastern city of Benghazi late on Friday, Human Rights Watch cited witnesses and hospital sources as saying, in the worst violence of Muammar Gaddafi's four decades in power.

Protests against Gaddafi's rule this week, inspired by the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, were met with a fierce security crackdown, especially in the restive east around Benghazi.

A security source said clashes were still under way on Saturday in the region between Benghazi and Al Bayda, 200 km away, where local people said security forces had killed dozens of people in the past 72 hours.

The area is "80 percent under control ... a lot of police stations have been set on fire or damaged," the source said.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said Friday's killings took to 84 its estimate for the death toll in three days of protests, mostly around Benghazi, against a ruling elite accused of hoarding Libya's oil wealth and denying political freedoms.

It said the deaths in the city, 1,000 km (600 miles) east of Tripoli, happened when security forces opened fire on people protesting after funeral processions for people killed in earlier violence. There was no official word on the death toll.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague urged Libya to stop using force against protesters and asked Middle East governments to respond to the "legitimate aspirations" of their people.

"I condemn the violence in Libya, including reports of the use of heavy weapons fire and a unit of snipers against demonstrators," Hague said in a statement. "This is clearly unacceptable and horrifying."

In Bahrain, a key U.S. ally and home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, troops and armored vehicles left a Manama square that had been a base for anti-government protesters, hours after opposition groups rejected a royal call for dialogue unless the military stood down.

Police firing teargas beat back the few demonstrators who tried to move back into their former stronghold in Pearl Square after the army pullout.

The crown prince, charged by King Hamad on Friday with opening a dialogue with the protesters, announced that all troops had been ordered off the streets and that police would maintain order.

The announcement met one of the conditions for talks spelt out by a Shi'ite ex-lawmer of the main Shi'ite opposition bloc, Wefax, which quit parliament on Thursday.

Ibrahim Mattar told Reuters the authorities must "accept the concept of constitutional monarchy" and pull troops off the streets before a dialogue could begin. "Then we can go for a temporary government of new faces that would not include the current interior or defense ministers," he said.

The government is led by the Sunni Muslim Al Khalifa dynasty, but the majority Shi'ite population has long complained about what it sees as discrimination in access to state jobs, housing and healthcare, a charge the government denies.

The United States and top oil producer Saudi Arabia see Bahrain as a Sunni bulwark against neighboring Shi'ite regional power Iran.

The spreading unrest -- particularly worries about its possible effects on the world No. 1 oil producer, Saudi Arabia -- helped drive Brent crude prices higher this week before other factors caused them to slip on Friday.

It was also a factor in gold prices posting their best weekly performance since December.

Analysts say a key difference between Libya and Egypt is that Gaddafi has oil cash to smooth over social problems. He is also respected in much of the country, though less so in the Cyrenaica region around Benghazi.

"There is no national uprising," said Noman Benotman, a former opposition Libyan Islamist based in Britain but currently in Tripoli. "I don't think Libya is comparable to Egypt or Tunisia. Gaddafi would fight to the very last moment," he said by telephone from the Libyan capital.

In Yemen, supporters and opponents of the government threw stones at each other and fired shots in the air in Sanaa, a day after five people were killed and dozens wounded in clashes in several towns between security forces and crowds demanding an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 32-year rule.

Saleh, a U.S. ally against a Yemen-based al Qaeda wing that has launched attacks at home and abroad, is struggling to end month-old protests flaring across his impoverished country.

In Algiers, police in riot gear crammed some 500 protesters into the courtyard of a residential block before they could reach May 1 Square in the city center.

The main opposition parties did not take part in the banned protest, which was organized by human rights groups, some trade unionists and a small opposition party.

This, like other recent demonstrations in Algeria for democratic change and better economic conditions, was too small to rattle the authorities, but there have been signs that pressure is building within the ruling group for substantial change, including a new government line-up.

The political uprising sweeping through the Middle East has also reached the tiny Horn of Africa state of Djibouti, where anti-government protesters clashed with security forces on Saturday for the second day running.

On Friday, thousands of protesters called for the removal of President Ismail Omar Guelleh, whose family has held sway in Djibouti since independence in 1977. Guelleh took office in 1999 and is expected to run for a third term in April 2011.

Djibouti, a former French colony between Eritrea and Somalia, hosts France's largest military base in Africa and a major U.S. base. Its port is used by foreign navies patrolling busy shipping lanes off the coast of Somalia to fight piracy. Unemployment runs at about 60 percent.

(Additional reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers, William Maclean in London and Saleh Al-Shaibany in Muscat; Writing by Tim Pearce, )

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Bahrain mourners call for toppling of monarchy (AP)

MANAMA, Bahrain – Funeral mourners are chanting against Bahrain's rulers as they bury dead from a crushing assault on pro-reform protesters that has brought army tanks into the streets of the tiny Gulf nation.

The first funerals are taking place outside a village mosque for three men killed in the pre-dawn attack on a protest encampment in Bahrain's capital Manama. At least two others died in the fierce crackdown and more than 200 were injured.

About 200 Shiite mourners waved banners and cried slogans Friday against Bahrain's Sunni monarchy as the burials began.

The protest began this week as a call for political reforms, but appears to be shifting to a call by Bahrain's majority Shiites to bring down the Sunni leadership.

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As Mideast seethes, 3 dead in Bahrain bloodshed (Reuters)

MANAMA (Reuters) – Unrest spread across the Middle East and North Africa on Thursday as Bahrain launched a swift military crackdown on anti-government protesters and clashes were reported in Libya and Yemen.

Troops in armored vehicles took control of the Bahraini capital after police firing buckshot and teargas drove out protesters hoping to emulate demonstrators who toppled veteran leaders in Egypt and Tunisia.

It was the worst violence in the Gulf island kingdom in decades and a sign of the nervousness felt by Bahrain's Saudi-allied Sunni al-Khalifa royal family, long aware of simmering discontent among the country's majority Shi'ites.#

Three people were killed, 231 were injured and opposition leaders said dozens were detained and about 60 were missing.

"They are killing us!" one demonstrator told Reuters.

After the violence in Bahrain, hundreds of Yemenis clashed again during a seventh day of anti-government protests on the other side of the Arabian peninsula, and in North Africa there were reports of new unrest in Libya.

A Libyan "Day of Rage" promoted on social media websites for Thursday started with little sign of activity in the capital, where supporters of Muammar Gaddafi, in power for 42 years, staged a rally in his support.

But a resident of the eastern city of Benghazi told Reuters there were clashes on Thursday in the nearby town of Al Bayda between government supporters and relatives of two young men killed during a protest a day earlier.

In Iraq, one person was killed and 33 wounded when police opened fire on anti-government protesters in the northern city of Sulaimaniya, medical sources and witnesses said.

"Profound social and economic issues throughout the Middle East and North Africa will continue to serve as a driving force for further unrest," said political risk analyst Anthony Skinner at the Maplecroft consultancy. "Protests in Bahrain and Libya reflect the ease with which protests have spread in the region."

Such worries helped push Brent crude prices to a 28-month high of $104 a barrel at one point on Thursday and were a factor in gold prices extending early gains to four-week highs.

SUICIDE TRIGGER

It was two months to the day on Thursday since a young Tunisian, Mohamed Bouazizi, triggered the wave of protests by setting himself alight on December 17 outside a government office in the rundown city of Sidi Bouzid. He was venting frustration at grinding poverty, official corruption and police brutality.

Since Tunisia's aging strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled a month later, followed a week ago by Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, opposition groups in a dozen or more countries have lived in hope the Arab world might experience a "domino effect" of the kind that swept communists from power in eastern Europe in 1989.

Oil and gas riches, as well as formidable police forces, give rulers the means to fend off challenges. But the way in which Ben Ali and Mubarak were overthrown after their armies refused to crush popular uprisings has given many pause.

Leaders from the Gulf to the Atlantic have announced a variety of measures to ease rising food prices and unemployment and to enhance political participation.

The oil-rich United Arab Emirates said on Thursday it would treble the number of people the rulers would choose to vote for members of an advisory body that serves as a form of parliament.

But Middle Eastern leaders have also tightened security.

The army in Bahrain, a country of 1.3 million people out of whom 600,000 are native Bahrainis, issued a warning to people to stay away from the center of the capital and said it would do whatever was needed to maintain security.

At Pearl Square, abandoned tents, blankets and rubbish were scattered about and the smell of teargas wafted through the air.

Helicopters clattered over the city, which is a regional hub for banks and home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet.

SECTARIAN DIMENSION

The protesters want the Sunni ruling family to relinquish its control over top government posts and address grievances held by the country's majority Shi'ites who complain of economic hardships, lack of political freedoms and discrimination in jobs in public service and the military in favor of Sunnis.

The sectarian aspect of the violence in Bahrain could fuel discontent among the Shi'ite minority in neighboring Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter.

"This is real terrorism," said Abdul Jalil Khalil of Bahrain's Shi'ite party Wefaq, which said it would withdraw from a parliament which has very limited powers. "Whoever took the decision to attack the protest was aiming to kill."

Western powers have been caught in a dilemma between backing rulers whom they see as bulwarks against anti-Western Islamists and at the same time being seen to promote democracy.

In Bahrain, Saudi and Western officials fear majority rule could help their adversaries in Shi'ite-ruled Iran.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague warned against any interference in Bahrain by other nations and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed "deep concern" at events there.

In Yemen, where dozens were wounded in the capital Sanaa during rock-throwing clashes between protesters and government loyalists, demonstrators want rid of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled for 32 years but is seen by Washington as a key ally in its fight against al Qaeda Islamists based in Yemen.

(Writing by Alastair Macdonald and Philippa Fletcher; editing by Samia Nakhoul)

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As Mideast seethes, three dead in Bahrain bloodshed (Reuters)

MANAMA (Reuters) – Unrest spread across the Middle East and North Africa on Thursday as Bahrain launched a swift military crackdown on anti-government protesters and clashes were reported in Libya and Yemen.

Troops in armored vehicles took control of the Bahraini capital after police firing buckshot and teargas drove out protesters hoping to emulate demonstrators who toppled veteran leaders in Egypt and Tunisia.

It was the worst violence in the Gulf island kingdom in decades and a sign of the nervousness felt by Bahrain's Saudi-allied Sunni al-Khalifa royal family, long aware of simmering discontent among the country's majority Shi'ites.#

Three people were killed, 231 were injured and opposition leaders said dozens were detained and about 60 were missing.

"They are killing us!" one demonstrator told Reuters.

After the violence in Bahrain, hundreds of Yemenis clashed again during a seventh day of anti-government protests on the other side of the Arabian peninsula, and in North Africa there were reports of new unrest in Libya.

A Libyan "Day of Rage" promoted on social media websites for Thursday started with little sign of activity in the capital, where supporters of Muammar Gaddafi, in power for 42 years, staged a rally in his support.

But a resident of the eastern city of Benghazi told Reuters there were clashes on Thursday in the nearby town of Al Bayda between government supporters and relatives of two young men killed during a protest a day earlier.

In Iraq, one person was killed and 33 wounded when police opened fire on anti-government protesters in the northern city of Sulaimaniya, medical sources and witnesses said.

"Profound social and economic issues throughout the Middle East and North Africa will continue to serve as a driving force for further unrest," said political risk analyst Anthony Skinner at the Maplecroft consultancy. "Protests in Bahrain and Libya reflect the ease with which protests have spread in the region."

Such worries helped push Brent crude prices to a 28-month high of $104 a barrel at one point on Thursday and were a factor in gold prices extending early gains to four-week highs.

SUICIDE TRIGGER

It was two months to the day on Thursday since a young Tunisian, Mohamed Bouazizi, triggered the wave of protests by setting himself alight on December 17 outside a government office in the rundown city of Sidi Bouzid. He was venting frustration at grinding poverty, official corruption and police brutality.

Since Tunisia's aging strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled a month later, followed a week ago by Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, opposition groups in a dozen or more countries have lived in hope the Arab world might experience a "domino effect" of the kind that swept communists from power in eastern Europe in 1989.

Oil and gas riches, as well as formidable police forces, give rulers the means to fend off challenges. But the way in which Ben Ali and Mubarak were overthrown after their armies refused to crush popular uprisings has given many pause.

Leaders from the Gulf to the Atlantic have announced a variety of measures to ease rising food prices and unemployment and to enhance political participation.

The oil-rich United Arab Emirates said on Thursday it would treble the number of people the rulers would choose to vote for members of an advisory body that serves as a form of parliament.

But Middle Eastern leaders have also tightened security.

The army in Bahrain, a country of 1.3 million people out of whom 600,000 are native Bahrainis, issued a warning to people to stay away from the center of the capital and said it would do whatever was needed to maintain security.

At Pearl Square, abandoned tents, blankets and rubbish were scattered about and the smell of teargas wafted through the air.

Helicopters clattered over the city, which is a regional hub for banks and home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet.

SECTARIAN DIMENSION

The protesters want the Sunni ruling family to relinquish its control over top government posts and address grievances held by the country's majority Shi'ites who complain of economic hardships, lack of political freedoms and discrimination in jobs in public service and the military in favor of Sunnis.

The sectarian aspect of the violence in Bahrain could fuel discontent among the Shi'ite minority in neighboring Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter.

"This is real terrorism," said Abdul Jalil Khalil of Bahrain's Shi'ite party Wefaq, which said it would withdraw from a parliament which has very limited powers. "Whoever took the decision to attack the protest was aiming to kill."

Western powers have been caught in a dilemma between backing rulers whom they see as bulwarks against anti-Western Islamists and at the same time being seen to promote democracy.

In Bahrain, Saudi and Western officials fear majority rule could help their adversaries in Shi'ite-ruled Iran.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague warned against any interference in Bahrain by other nations and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed "deep concern" at events there.

In Yemen, where dozens were wounded in the capital Sanaa during rock-throwing clashes between protesters and government loyalists, demonstrators want rid of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled for 32 years but is seen by Washington as a key ally in its fight against al Qaeda Islamists based in Yemen.

(Writing by Alastair Macdonald and Philippa Fletcher; editing by Samia Nakhoul)

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Riot Police Fatally Attack Bahrain Camp (Time.com)

(MANAMA) - Bahrain riot police firing tear gas and wielding clubs stormed a landmark square occupied by anti-government protesters before dawn Thursday, driving out demonstrators and destroying a makeshift encampment that had become the hub for demands to bring sweeping political changes to the kingdom.

The main opposition group Al Wefaq said at least two people were killed in the assault on Pearl Square, which was littered with flattened tents, trampled banners and broken glass. There was no official word on deaths or injuries, but hospitals treated dozens of people with serious gaping wounds, broken bones and respiratory problems from the tear gas.

Hours after police retook control of the plaza, the tiny island nation was in lockdown mode. Tanks and armored personnel carriers were seen in some areas - the first sign of military involvement in the crisis. Police checkpoints were set up along main roadways and armed patrols moved through neighborhoods in an apparent attempt to thwart any mass gatherings.

Barbed wire was put up around Pearl Square and a message from the Interior Ministry declared the protest camp "illegal." The air still carried the smell of tear gas more than four hours after the assault.

The blow by authorities marked a dramatic shift in tactics. It appeared Bahrain's leaders had sought to rein in security forces after clashes Monday that left at least two people dead and brought sharp criticism from Western allies - including the U.S. - which operates its main naval base in the Gulf from Bahrain.

Police held back Wednesday as tens of thousands of protesters crowded into the seaside square, dominated by a 300-foot (90-meter) monument to Bahrain's history as a pearl diving center.

After the crackdown early Thursday, protesters who were camped in the square overnight described police swarming in through a cloud of eye-stinging tear gas.

"They attacked our tents, beating us with batons," said Jafar Jafar, 17. "The police were lined up at the bridge overhead. They were shooting tear gas from the bridge."

Many families were separated in the chaos. An Associated Press photographer saw police rounding up lost children and taking them into vehicles.

Hussein Abbas, 22, was awakened by a missed call on his cell phone from his wife, presumably trying to warn him about reports that police were preparing to move in.

"Then all of a sudden the square was filled with tear gas clouds. Our women were screaming. ... What kind of ruler does this to his people? There were women and children with us!"

One man said he pretended to be unconscious to avoid further beatings from police.

ABC News said its correspondent, Miguel Marquez, was caught in the crowd and beaten by men with billy clubs, although he was not badly injured.

The Egypt-inspired protests began Monday as a cry for the country's Sunni monarchy to loosen its grip, including hand-picking most top government posts, and open more opportunities for the country's majority Shiites, who have long complained of being blocked from decision-making roles or key posts in the military.

But the uprising's demands have steadily grown bolder. Many protesters called for the government to provide more jobs and better housing, free all political detainees and abolish a system that offers Bahraini citizenship to Sunnis from around the Middle East as a way to close the population gap with Shiites, who account for 70 percent of the population. Many of the newly minted nationals get jobs in security forces to further cement the number of presumed loyalists protecting the ruling system.

Increasingly, protesters also chanted slogans to wipe away the entire ruling dynasty that has led Bahrain for more than 200 years and is firmly backed by the Sunni sheiks and monarchs across the Gulf.

Although Bahrain is sandwiched between OPEC heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Qatar, it has limited oil resources and depends heavily on its role as a regional financial hub and playground for Saudis, who can drive over a causeway to enjoy Bahrain's Western-style bars, hotels and beaches.

Social networking websites had been abuzz Wednesday with calls to press ahead with the protests. They were matched by insults from presumed government backers who called the demonstrators traitors and agents of Shiite powerhouse Iran. Some pointed out that Iranian hard-liners have called Bahrain the Islamic Republic's "14th province" because of its Shiite links.

The protest movement's next move is unclear, but the island nation has been rocked by street battles as recently as last summer. A wave of arrests of perceived Shiite dissidents touched off weeks of rioting and demonstrations.

Outside the main state medical complex - where many injured protesters were treated - dozens of protesters chanted: "The regime must go."

Before the attack on the square, protesters had called for major rallies after Friday prayers. The reported deaths, however, could become a fresh rallying point. Thousands of mourners had turned out for the funeral processions of two other people killed in the protests earlier in the week.

Mahmoud Mansouri, whose pants were torn in the mayhem, said police surrounded the camp and then quickly moved in.

"We yelled, "We are peaceful! Peaceful! The women and children were attacked just like the rest of us," he said. "They moved in as soon as the media left us. They knew what they're doing."

The country's rulers scheduled an emergency parliament session for later Thursday. But it may only serve to highlight the country's divisions and reinforce its image as the most politically volatile in the Gulf.

The main Shiite opposition bloc, with 18 of the 40 seats, has said it will not return to the chamber until the protest demands are met.

The occupation in Pearl Square, which began Tuesday, had become the nerve center of the first anti-government protests to reach the Arab Gulf since the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

Just hours before police moved in, the mood in the makeshift tent city was festive and confident.

People sipped tea, ate donated food and smoked apple- and grape-flavored tobacco from water pipes. The men and women mainly sat separately - the women a sea of black in their traditional dress. Some youths wore the red-and-white Bahraini flag as a cape.

After prayers Wednesday evening, a Shiite imam in the square had urged Bahrain's youth not to back down.

"This square is a trust in your hands and so will you whittle away this trust or keep fast?" the imam said. "So be careful and be concerned for your country and remember that the regime will try to rip this country from your hand but if we must leave it in coffins then so be it!"

Across the city, government supporters in a caravan of cars waved national flags and displayed portraits of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

"Come join us!" they yelled into markets and along busy streets. "Show your loyalty."

Earlier Wednesday, thousands of mourners turned out for the funeral procession of 31-year-old Fadhel al-Matrook, the second known fatality from the protests. Later, in Pearl Square, his father Salman pleaded with protesters not to give up.

"He is not only my son. He is the son of Bahrain, the son of this nation," he yelled. "His blood shouldn't be wasted."

The bloodshed has brought embarrassing rebukes from allies such as Britain and the United States. A statement from Bahrain's Interior Ministry said suspects have been "placed in custody" in connection with the two protester deaths from earlier in the week, but gave no further details.

The widening challenges to the region's political order - emboldened by the downfall of old-guard regimes in Tunisia and Egypt - also flared elsewhere in Arab world.

In Yemen, the embattled president flooded the ancient capital of Sanaa with more than 2,000 security forces to try to stamp out demonstrations that began nearly a week ago. They turned deadly Wednesday in the southern port of Aden, with two people killed in clashes with police.

In Libya, security forces fired rubber bullets and water cannons at hundreds of marchers in Benghazi, the second-largest city. Witnesses said some police stations were set on fire and one protester said he saw snipers on a roof of a security headquarters firing on protesters.

The unrest was triggered by the temporary detention Tuesday of an activist but quickly turned into a rare public challenge to the 42-year rule of Moammar Gadhafi.

Brian Murphy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

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As Mideast seethes, 3 dead in Bahrain bloodshed (Reuters)

By Cynthia Johnston and Frederik Richter Cynthia Johnston And Frederik Richter – Thu Feb 17, 8:24 am ET

MANAMA (Reuters) – Police in the Gulf island kingdom of Bahrain attacked demonstrators camped out in the capital on Thursday, killing three, in a move to stifle pro-democracy protests inspired by similar movements across the Middle East.

"They are killing us!" one man told Reuters as police firing buckshot and teargas moved on Pearl Square in Manama overnight, putting to flight some 2,000 people, including women and children, who had spent three days there hoping to emulate the successful protest camp on Cairo's Tahrir Square.

Having seen protests in Tunisia and Egypt gradually build momentum and topple veteran rulers there, Bahrain's Saudi-allied royal family, long aware of simmering discontent, appear to have decided to nip in the bud the latest challenge to their rule.

Dozens of people were detained, opposition leaders said.

After bloodshed in Bahrain, hundreds of Yemenis clashed again on the other side of the Arabian peninsula, and in North Africa there were reports of new unrest in Libya on Wednesday.

A Libyan "Day of Rage" promoted on social media websites for Thursday started with little sign of activity. Supporters of Muammar Gaddafi, in power for 42 years, did stage a rally.

There has also been trouble on the streets of Iraq and Iran

"Profound social and economic issues throughout the Middle East and North Africa will continue to serve as a driving force for further unrest," said political risk analyst Anthony Skinner at the Maplecroft consultancy. "Protests in Bahrain and Libya reflect the ease with which protests have spread in the region."

Discontent over youth unemployment was exacerbated in many countries by the knowledge that oil revenues were "being embezzled by ruling political and business elites", he added.

SUICIDE TRIGGER

It was two months to the day on Thursday since a young Tunisian, Mohamed Bouazizi, triggered the wave of protests by setting himself alight on December 17 outside a government office in the rundown city of Sidi Bouzid. He was venting frustration at grinding poverty, official corruption and police brutality.

Since Tunisia's aging strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled a month later, followed a week ago by Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, opposition groups in a dozen or more countries have lived in hope the Arab world might experience a "domino effect" of the kind that swept communists from power in eastern Europe in 1989.

Oil and gas riches, as well as formidable police forces, give rulers the means to fend off challenges. But the way in which Ben Ali and Mubarak were overthrown after their armies refused to crush popular uprisings has given many pause.

Leaders from the Gulf to the Atlantic have announced a variety of measures to ease rising food prices and unemployment and to enhance political participation.

The oil-rich United Arab Emirates said on Thursday it would treble the number of people the rulers would choose to vote for members of an advisory body that serves as a form of parliament.

But Middle Eastern leaders have also tightened security.

In Libya, human rights activists said 14 dissidents had been detained and there were unconfirmed reports that two people were killed on Wednesday in clashes in Bayda. The previous day, there had been fighting in Benghazi.

The army in Bahrain, a country of 1.3 million people, issued a warning to people to stay away from the center of the capital and said it would do whatever was needed to maintain security.

At Pearl Square, abandoned tents, blankets and rubbish were scattered about and the smell of teargas wafted through the air.

Helicopters clattered over the city, which is a regional hub for banks and home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet.

SECTARIAN DIMENSION

The sectarian aspect of violence in Bahrain, whose majority Shi'ite population is ruled by a Sunni Muslim royal house, could fuel discontent among the Shi'ite minority in neighboring Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter.

"This is real terrorism," said Abdul Jalil Khalil of Bahrain's Shi'ite party Wefaq, which said it would withdraw from a parliament which has very limited powers. "Whoever took the decision to attack the protest was aiming to kill."

U.S. President Barack Obama said this week: "The world is changing ... If you are governing these countries, you've got to get ahead of the change, you can't be behind the curve."

But Western powers have been caught in a dilemma between backing rulers whom they see as bulwarks against anti-Western Islamists and at the same time being seen to promote democracy.

In Bahrain, Saudi and Western officials fear majority rule could help their adversaries in Shi'ite-ruled Iran.

In Yemen, where dozens were wounded in the capital Sanaa during rock-throwing clashes between protesters and government loyalists, demonstrators want rid of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled for 32 years but is seen by Washington as a key ally in its fight against al Qaeda Islamists based in Yemen.

Authoritarian governments have reason to fear. Young people can watch uprisings on satellite television or the web and can talk on social networks hard for secret police to control.

In Iran, supporters and opponents of the hard line Islamic system clashed in Tehran on Wednesday during a funeral procession for a student shot in a rally two days earlier, state broadcaster IRIB reported. Monday's rally, in support of the people of Egypt and Tunisia, was biggest unrest since 2009.

In Iraq, three people were killed and dozens wounded in the southern city of Kut on Wednesday as protesters demanding better services fought with police and set buildings ablaze.

(Writing by Alastair Macdonald; editing by Angus MacSwan)

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In Bahrain, protesters bridge Sunni-Shiite divide to challenge monarchy (The Christian Science Monitor)

The unrest sweeping across the Middle East has killed two in Bahrain, as police clash with antigovernment protesters calling for political reform in the diminutive Persian Gulf kingdom.

A young man died after being struck by a rubber bullet on Monday's "day of rage," while another was shot dead by police during the subsequent funeral procession on Tuesday.

Government attempts to censure media coverage of the protests have been circumvented by groups such as Bahrain Youth for Freedom using social networking sites to post video footage online of police using tear gas to disperse protesters.

IN PICTURES: Bahrain protests

After the fall of secular dictators in Tunisia and Egypt, democracy movements across the Persian Gulf now face a much sterner test as they confront autocratic monarchs such as King Hamad bin Isa, whose ruling Al Khalifah family have held absolute power for more than two centuries.

Sectarian tensionsBut Bahrain has the added element of sectarian divisions fueling the calls for greater political freedom. The Al Khalifah family belongs to the Sunni sect of Islam and trace their origins to the Arabian peninsula but are a minority in the country. A majority of the population are Shiite with strong links to Iran.

Furthermore, the powers that be have consistently practiced a form of sectarian apartheid by not allowing Shiites to hold key government posts or serve in the police or military. In fact, the security forces are staffed by Sunnis from Syria, Pakistan, and Baluchistan who also get fast-tracked to Bahraini citizenship, much to the displeasure of the indigenous Shiite population.

Unlike oil-rich Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain doesn't have petrodollars to spend on the cradle-to-grave welfare systems that have kept a lid on reform movements in those countries.

Christopher Davidson, a specialist in Gulf Affairs at the University of Durham in the United Kingdom, says the situation in Bahrain should be seen as a case of economic disenfranchisement magnified by underlying sectarian tensions.

“Post-oil Bahrain has unemployment and few opportunities for the young population," he says. "However, there is the added dimension of sectarian unrest, with the Shia majority population having historically been second class citizens to the ruling Sunni elites.“

Not a new phenomenonUnlike the shock that greeted the uprising in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, Bahrain has long been the scene of political discontent. During the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s and again in the 1990s, the Bahraini government repeatedly jailed member of Shia political groups calling for greater political representation.

Such actions were justified in terms of national security threats amid lingering territorial claims by Iran over Bahrain. Attempts at political reform in 2002 that changed the country from an emirate to a constitutional monarchy have so far failed to yield meaningful change.

However, if the current maelstrom of political reform rushing through the region unites both the Shiite underclass with middle-class Sunnis tired of the status quo, the Al Khalifah dynasty may be forced to cede more power to the people, or use greater force to suppress dissent.

In a country where “divide and conquer” has been so exquisitely practiced, the protesters’ chant of “Not Sunni, Nor Shia, but Bahraini” is one certain to cause concern among the ruling family.

IN PICTURES: Bahrain protests

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Songs of the Revolution: A Bahrain Website Mixes Music and Activism (Time.com)

You might want to start brushing up on your Iranian rap. Or Palestinian trance. Jordanian Punk will be important too. And don't forget Bahraini R&B. This is the music of the new revolution sweeping the Middle East. In Tahrir Square Egyptians rocked to a catchy number by rocker Mohammad Munir, who asked, "How can I love you [Egypt] if you don't give that love back?" If you want to know what the anthem of change in Yemen will be, check out mideastunes.com, where the region's revolutionary playlist is ready for download. This is no sugarcoated pop site. The music is about social change, human rights and freedom of expression, and it's manned (rather, womanned) by Esra'a Al Shafei, 24, a Bahraini activist whose social consciousness was raised not by western rock, but by the passioned rhymes of Kurdish Hip-Hop. "My inspiration comes from music," says Shafei, who cut her activist teeth campaigning for the rights of Kurds at the age of 18. "Sure, people like Gandhi give me hope, but what makes me want to go out and make change is people's stories, and that comes through their music."

But Mideasttunes is only a small part of Shafei's campaign for change. She also founded mideastyouth.com, a multi-media web platform that uses tweets, blogs, stories, links, videos and discussion forums to promote tolerance, human rights, freedom of speech and democracy not just in her native Bahrain, but around the Middle East. The site focuses on campaigns for the rights of migrant workers, persecuted religious groups, Kurds, and other minority issues. "These are issues that are not limited to one country, they affect all of us in the Middle East," she says, in rapid-fire English. "I wanted to use the pan-Arab movement to build relations between activists throughout the region." (See pictures of heartbreak in the Middle East.)

It's working. The site has become the go-to place for young Arab activists. It's where people get ideas, and learn about new issues. And, most important, it's where they go for support. As a Bahraini, Shafei has to be cautious about pushing for change in her own country. At least two protesters were killed in an uprising that brought thousands to the capital's central square on Sunday and Tuesday. She has a family to protect, and, as she points out, "If something happens to me, what happens to my work?" Instead she helps activists in other countries, who in turn help her. It's like an online activism co-op. As an example, she is helping activists push for Kurdish rights in Syria, something she couldn't do if she were actually in Syria. "It's a way for us to help each other out," she says. "I tell people to practice caution if you live in those [repressive] countries, and focus on social rights activism elsewhere. It's a way to come together over the things we have in common - a desire for rights and freedoms."

Mideastyouth is about forging connections. It's also about producing content that raises awareness. The site produces cartoons and comics for distribution. A cartoon about the abuse of domestic workers, for example, or an engaging ad for Kurdish rights. The messages are clear, the production values high and the medium engaging. The result, she hopes, is getting people to think, and act. One promotional spot, a jazzy ad done in the style of a tourism commercial about the persecution of the Baha'i' minority in Egypt got thousands of hits within the first few days. "People were talking about it because Muslims were doing it. Even the Baha'is were surprised," says Shafei, explaining that it was the first time a Muslim organization had been formed to fight specifically for Baha'i rights. To her, generating buzz is almost as important as getting the message across. "This is what we do to get traditional media to talk about these issues," she says. "And that is how you get the attention we really want." Of course the Internet is huge in the Middle East, she says. But your average Saudi isn't going to Google human rights. "We can't wait for them to come to us. So we create new ways to find them." Once they connect, "we can find more people wanting to work with the cause." (See pictures of the aftershocks from the Abu Ghraib scandal.)

Shafei focuses on minority rights, she says, "because we cannot have human rights for ourselves if the minorities in our countries don't either." Many rights-based organizations in the Middle East have traditionally been self-centered - for example, women supporting women. That kind of silo mentality is ultimately destructive, says Shafei. It keeps organizations isolated, and it also enables authoritarian regimes to play one group against another. "As a Bahraini woman, yes, I would like my rights," she says. "But in comparison to religious minorities or migrant workers, I have a lot more rights. I'm Muslim, Arab, a member of the mainstream that has more freedom of speech and a more comfortable life. We can't progress as a society if we leave the most vulnerable behind."

The hard work of overthrowing dictators, of course, is better left to locals. "There are plenty of groups working on regime change, so we focus on the people who don't have a voice." That doesn't mean that she turns her back on calls for change - she pumps up the volume. She just launched crowdvoice.org, a user-powered service that tracks voices of protest from around the world through crowdsourcing. "People can use it to collect or view collections of videos, photos, news stories, blogs, tweets and other media sources on current events," she says. "It's used to amplify voices of dissent."

Shafei makes it very clear that her push for democracy and human rights has nothing to do with an American agenda for the Middle East. If anything, she says, the U.S. has demonstrated that its principal value in the region, at least, is self-interest. "The United States continues to support repressive and anti-democratic regimes. The U.S. Government was aware of the injustices in Egypt, but continued supporting Mubarak because of self-interest. No one can argue that Saudi Arabia is the home of human rights or democracy, yet America continues to support the regime." (See a special report on the accued 9/11 plotters.)

The credibility of the U.S. among the young in the Middle East, Shafei says, "is in negative numbers." She says that neither she, nor other members of the Arab youth movement, are against Americans. When you see Arabs burning the flag, "It's not Anti-American, it's anti-American foreign policy hypocrisy."

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Bahrain protesters urge more pressure on rulers (AP)

MANAMA, Bahrain – Protesters occupying a central square in Bahrain's capital are calling for a third day of rallies to demand sweeping political reforms from the Gulf nation's rulers.

Thousands of demonstrators spent the night in a makeshift tent city in Manama's landmark Pearl Square. Some broke away early Wednesday to join a funeral procession for a man killed during clashes with riot police a day earlier in the strategic island nation — home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.

The rallies began Monday as the first major Arab protests to reach the Gulf after uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

The crowds in Bahrain seek wide-ranging political changes, including breaking the monarchy's grip on appointing top government posts.

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Bahrain protesters gather in capital for third day (Reuters)

MANAMA (Reuters) – Thousands of Shi'ite demonstrators, inspired by popular revolts that toppled rulers in Tunisia and Egypt, poured into Bahrain's capital on Wednesday to mourn for a second protestor killed in clashes this week.

Several hundred gathered at a funeral procession for a man shot dead when police and mourners clashed at an earlier funeral procession on Tuesday.

"The people demand the fall of the regime!" protesters chanted, with the men pounding their chests, a Shi'ite symbol of sacrifice and anguish.

For the moment, protestors are calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa rather than King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, who has the final say in politics.

Sheikh Khalifa, the king's uncle, has governed the Gulf Arab state since its independence in 1971 and is seen as being mostly concerned with keeping the ruling family's grip on politics and the economy.

Bahrain's main stock index was flat on Wednesday, trading slightly higher near four month-highs. Stability concerns have raised the cost of insuring Bahrain's debt to their highest levels since August 2009.

"We are requesting our rights in a peaceful way," said Bakr Akil, a 20 year-old university student, wearing a sheet stained with red ink that he said was a symbol of his willingness to sacrifice his life for freedom.

"I am optimistic that our big presence will achieve our demands," Akil said.

Women dressed in black abaya cloaks followed the procession with their own chants calling for peace and Bahraini unity.

Elsewhere in central Manama, witnesses said about 2,000 protestors had spent the night in tents at Bahrain's Pearl Roundabout, similar to the number marching on the streets a day earlier.

It remains to be seen whether the number would rise or fall during Wednesday. Some will have to return to work, after a public holiday on Tuesday to mark the Prophet Mohammed's birthday.

Police kept their distance, mostly confining themselves to a nearby dirt lot with dozens of SUV police vehicles. The ministry of Interior announced that all roads were open.

The demonstrators from Bahrain's Shi'ite majority say the ruling Sunni minority shuts them out of housing, healthcare and government jobs.

The main Shi'ite opposition bloc Wefaq, which boycotted parliament to protest the clampdown by Sunni security forces, said it would hold talks with the government on Wednesday.

"We support the people here, we are not the decision makers," said Ibrahim Mattar, a Wefaq parliamentarian who had joined the funeral procession.

"The people are the decision makers," Mattar said, adding that Wefaq would call for direct election of the prime minister.

DEMOGRAPHIC BALANCE

Activists say they also want the release of political prisoners, which the government has promised, and the creation of a new constitution.

Poverty, high unemployment and alleged attempts by the state to grant citizenship to Sunni foreigners to change the demographic balance have intensified discontent among Bahrain's Shi'ites.

About half of the tiny island kingdom's 1.3 million people are Bahraini, the rest being foreign workers.

Analysts say large-scale unrest in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet and a regional offshore banking center, could embolden marginalized Shi'ites in nearby Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter.

"The United States is very concerned by recent violence surrounding protests in Bahrain," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in a statement. "We also call on all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from violence."

King Hamad expressed his condolences for "the deaths of two of our dear sons" in a televised speech and said a committee would investigate the killings.

Bahrain, in a move appeared aimed at preventing Shi'ite discontent from boiling over, had offered cash payouts of around 1,000 dinars ($2,650) per family in the run-up to this week's protests.

(For an interactive factbox on protests in the Middle East and Africa, please click on http://link.reuters.com/puk87r) (Reporting by Frederik Richter; Writing by Reed Stevenson; editing by Matthew Jones)

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Egypt echoes across region: Iran, Bahrain, Yemen (AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The possible heirs of Egypt's uprising took to the streets Monday in different corners of the Middle East: Iran's beleaguered opposition stormed back to central Tehran and came under a tear gas attack by police. Demonstrators faced rubber bullets and birdshot to demand more freedoms in the relative wealth of Bahrain. And protesters pressed for the ouster of the ruler in poverty-drained Yemen.

The protests — all with critical interests for Washington — offer an important lesson about how groups across Middle East are absorbing the message from Cairo and tailoring it to their own aspirations.

The heady themes of democracy, justice and empowerment remain intact as the protest wave works it way through the Arab world and beyond. What changes, however, are the objectives. The Egypt effect, it seems, is elastic.

"This isn't a one-size-fits-all thing," said Mustafa Alani, a regional analyst at the Gulf Research Center in Dubai. "Each place will interpret the fallout from Egypt in their own way and in their own context."

For the Iranian opposition — not seen on the streets in more than a year — it's become a moment to reassert its presence after facing relentless pressures.

Tens of thousands of protesters clashed with security forces along some of Tehran's main boulevards, which were shrouded in clouds of tear gas in scenes that recalled the chaos after the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009. A pro-government news agency reported one bystander killed by gunfire.

"Death to the dictator," many yelled in reference to Ahmadinejad. Others took aim Iran's all-powerful Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with chants linking him with toppled rulers Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and Tunisia's Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali.

"Bin Ali, Mubarak, it's Seyed Ali's turn," protesters cried.

The reformist website kaleme.com said police stationed several cars in front of the home of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi ahead of the demonstration. Mousavi and fellow opposition leader Mahdi Karroubi have been under house arrest since last week after they asked the government for permission to hold a rally in support of Egypt's uprising — which Iran's leaders have claimed was a modern-day replay of their 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Karroubi and Mousavi, however, have compared the unrest in Egypt and Tunisia with their own struggles. Mousavi said all region's revolts aimed at ending the "oppression of the rulers."

A new U.S. State Department Twitter account in Farsi took a jab at Iran in one of its first messages Sunday, calling on Tehran to "allow people to enjoy same universal rights to peacefully assemble, demonstrate as in Cairo."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed support for the Iranian protesters, saying they "deserve to have the same rights that they saw being played out in Egypt and are part of their own birthright."

In Yemen, meanwhile, the protests are about speeding the ouster of the U.S.-allied president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has promised he would step down in 2013.

Monday's protests mirrored the calls in Egypt and Tunisia against the leaders there who had been in power for decades: "The people want the regime to step down."

Protesters in the tiny Gulf nation of Bahrain are not looking to topple its monarchy. But their demands are no less lofty: greater political freedom and sweeping changes in how the country is run.

The next possible round of demonstrations gives a similar divide.

A coalition in Algeria — human rights activists, unionists, lawyers and others — has called protests Saturday to push for the end of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's 12-year rule. Kuwait's highly organized opposition, including parliament members, plans gatherings March 8 to demand a wholesale change of cabinet officials, but not the ruling emir.

"We are experiencing a pan-Arab democratic moment of sorts," said Shadi Hamid, director of research at The Brookings Doha Center in Qatar. "For opposition groups, it comes down the question of, 'If not now, when?'"

But he noted that the newfound Arab confidence for change will go in various directions.

"The Arab opposition are using the Egyptian model as a message that anything is possible," Hamid said. "Then they interpret that into their local context."

In Yemen, more than 1,000 people, including lawyers in their black courtroom robes, joined a fourth consecutive day of protests in the capital of Sanaa — a day after police attacked anti-government marchers with sticks and daggers. Human Rights Watch said police on Sunday also used stun guns and batons to disperse protesters.

"We will continue our protests until the regime falls," independent lawmaker Ahmed Hashid said.

Police separated the opposition rally from a hundred government supporters holding pictures of the president.

Bahrain was more violent. Security forces fired tear gas, rubber bullets and birdshot pellets at thousands of anti-government protesters heeding calls to unite in a major rally and bring the Arab reform wave to the Gulf for the first time. At least 25 people were injured, and one man died after suffering severe head trauma.

Police later used vans and other vehicles to block main roads into the capital of Manama to prevent a mass gathering that organizers intended as an homage to Egypt's Tahrir Square.

Social media sites have been flooded with calls by an array of political youth groups, rights activists and others to join demonstrations Monday, a symbolic day in Bahrain as the anniversary of the country's 2002 constitution that brought pro-democracy reforms such as an elected parliament.

But opposition groups seek deeper changes from the country's ruling dynasty, including transferring more decision-making powers to the parliament and breaking the monarchy's grip on senior government posts. Bahrain's majority Shiites — about 70 percent of the population — have long complained of systemic discrimination by the Sunni rulers.

The nation — no bigger in area than New York City — is among the most politically volatile in the Gulf. A crackdown on perceived dissidents last year touched off riots and street battles in Shiite areas.

Some protesters carried mock Valentine's Day greetings from a prominent Bahraini blogger in custody, Ali Abdul-Imam.

"Arabs have been inspired by Egypt and empowered to believe that their voices must be heard and respected," wrote James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, in a commentary in Abu Dhabi's The National newspaper. "It will make life more complicated for Western and Arab policy makers."

Monday's unrest touched on two key points of Washington's Mideast constellation.

Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, one of the Pentagon's main counterweights to Iran's attempts to expand influence in the Gulf. Yemen's militant networks offer safe haven for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which has planned and launched several attack against the U.S., including the attempted airliner bombing on Christmas Day 2009 and the failed mail bomb plot involving cargo planes last summer.

The U.S. military plans a $75 million training program with Yemen's counterterrorism unit to expand its size and capabilities in the nation's difficult mountain terrain. Last month, the U.S. also delivered four Huey helicopters to Yemen and has been training the aviation units.

"What has happened in Tunisia and Egypt has terrified pro-Western Arab rulers," said Fawaz Gerges, a professor of Middle Eastern politics at the London School of Economics.

"One of the lessons that the U.S. will take from current unrest is that the status quo is no longer sustainable," he added. "There are huge cracks in the Arab authoritarian wall. It's the end of an era and the U.S. must make very tough choices and decisions."

Turkish President Abdullah Gul, who is visiting Iran, urged governments in the Middle East to listen to the their people.

"When leaders and heads of countries do not pay attention to the demands of their nations, the people themselves take action to achieve their demands," the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Gul as saying.

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Associated Press writer Dale Gavlak in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.

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Protester killed in Bahrain "Day of Rage": witnesses (Reuters)

MANAMA (Reuters) – Police in Bahrain fired teargas and rubber bullets to break up pro-reform demonstrations on Monday and one protester was killed, witnesses said, in a "Day of Rage" stimulated by popular upheaval in Egypt and Tunisia.

Helicopters circled over the Gulf Arab state's capital Manama, where protesters had been due to gather but which remained quiet as security forces patrolled Shi'ite areas. More than 20 people were hurt, one of them critically, in clashes in Shi'ite villages that ring the capital, witnesses said.

Bahrain, where a Sunni Muslim family rules over a Shi'ite majority, offered cash payouts in the run-up to the protest, a move apparently designed to prevent Shi'ite discontent from boiling over as "people power" revolts spread in the Arab world.

Two witnesses at a Manama hospital said a 22-year-old protester from Daih village died from bullet wounds in his back, and another was in critical condition with a fractured skull.

In the village of Diraz, authorities dispersed with teargas about 100 Shi'ite protesters who had squared off with police, demanding more political rights. Another 10 were injured in Nuweidrat by police firing teargas and rubber bullets at protesters calling for the release of Shi'ite detainees.

"There were 2,000 sitting in the street voicing their demands when police started firing," 24-year-old Kamel said.

"We don't want to overthrow the ruling family, we just want to have our say," said Ali Jassem, married to a daughter of Sheikh Issa Qassem, a powerful Shi'ite cleric.

Diplomats say Bahrain's demonstrations, organized on Facebook and Twitter, would gauge whether a larger base of Shi'ites can be drawn to the streets.

"We call on all Bahraini people -- men, women, boys and girls -- to share in our rallies in a peaceful and civilized way to guarantee a stable and promising future for ourselves and our children," activists said in a statement on Twitter.

"We would like to stress that February 14 is only the beginning. The road may be long and the rallies may continue for days and weeks, but if a people one day chooses life, then destiny will respond."

Analysts say large-scale unrest in Bahrain could embolden marginalized Shi'ites in nearby Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter.

There was no immediate comment from Bahraini authorities.

NEW CONSTITUTION DEMANDED

Protest organizers said they sought a new constitution, to be drawn up a committee including both Sunnis and Shi'ites.

They want an elected prime minister, the release of "all political prisoners," and a probe of torture allegations.

Bahrain is a small oil-producer whose Shi'ite population has long complained of discrimination by the ruling Sunni al-Khalifa family, well before uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt emboldened activists throughout the region.

While tension pervaded Shi'ite villages, in Manama government supporters honked car horns and waved Bahraini flags to celebrate the 10th anniversary of a national charter introduced after unrest in the 1990s.

The cost of insuring Bahrain's 5-year sovereign debt widened by 10 basis points on Monday, according to Markit, in a sign investors were worried about stability.

King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, trying to take the steam out of protests, said he would give 1,000 dinars ($2,650) to each local family, and the government has indicated that it may free minors arrested under a security crackdown last year.

Non-OPEC Bahrain, which unlike Gulf Arab peers has little spare cash to use for social problems, has also said it would spend an extra $417 million on social items, including food subsidies, reversing attempts to prepare the public for cuts.

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