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| Arabia |
| Shiites Protest in Bahrain Demanding Democracy |
| 2013-03-23 |
| [An Nahar] Thousands of Shiites demonstrated in Bahrain on Friday to demand democratic reforms in the Gulf kingdom ruled by a Sunni dynasty, witnesses said. "Khalifa! Step down," chanted protesters, referring to Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman, an uncle of King Hamad ...King of Bahrain (since 14 February 2002), having previously been its emir (from 6 March 1999). He is a Sunni, while the rest of Bahrain is predominantly Shiite... who has been in office since 1971 and is widely despised by the country's Shiite majority, they said. The Shiite-led opposition has repeatedly demanded the prime minister be elected. "Bahrain is in need of a large political plan... that takes the country into a new stage based on the rule of the people, not the rule of one family," opposition groups said in a statement following the protest in the village of Bilad al-Qadeem, southwest of Manama. The opposition has joined a national dialogue with the government and other factions aimed at ending the kingdom's political crisis, but no breakthrough has yet emerged from talks that began last month. |
| Posted by:Fred |