DUBAI — Several thousand Bahrainis marched near the capital Manama on Friday to demand reforms in a protest called by the Shiite opposition in the tiny but strategic Sunni-ruled Gulf kingdom, witnesses said.
The demonstrators also called for the departure of the king’s uncle Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, who has been prime minister for more than four decades.
Thousands of men and women protested in Al-Bilad al-Qadim, waving Bahraini flags and brandishing pictures of political detainees, the witnesses said.
“National action calling for democratic change will not stop … until all rights have been granted,” opposition groups said in a statement.
“The action of the people of Bahrain on the ground has lasted for two years and will not end — the opposition will act every day with demonstrations until all our demands are met,” it added.
Referring to a call by King Hamad on January 23 for a new round of national dialogue, the statement said “this dialogue is obscure and does not reflect a serious will on the part of the authorities to meet popular demands.”
Bahrain, ruled by the minority Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty, has been rocked by Shiite-led protests since February 2011.
Despite a bloody crackdown on protesters in Manama between mid-February and mid-March that year, sporadic demonstrations have continued in villages around the capital.
The International Federation for Human Rights says 80 people have died since the start of the Arab Spring-inspired uprising on February 14, 2011.
Bahrain is home to the US Fifth Fleet and strategically situated across the Gulf from Shiite Iran.
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