government Bahrainis rallied Wednesday in Manama, shortly after anti-regime protesters staged a big gathering, on the 17th day of protests rocking the Gulf kingdom. Supporters of the 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. 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 Abdulrida Buhamid, who was killed on Feb. 17 by police gunfire. “How can we expect security when the army shoots and kills the innocent?” demanded one woman who stopped to pray at the shrine. The wave of popular rallies in the tiny Gulf kingdom has brought to the surface simmering discontent among Bahrain's opposition, who are calling for the fall of the Al-Khalifa dynasty which has ruled the country for 200 years. A mass rally outside the government headquarters in Manama is scheduled for Friday. The opposition protests are starting to make forays away from the central square in Manama and into different parts of the city, demanding reforms. Since thousands of protesters took to the streets two weeks ago there has been no formal dialogue between the government and the opposition, mainly majority Muslim Shiites, who say they are shut out of good jobs, decent healthcare and housing. The king has pardoned political prisoners, reshuffled the cabinet, increased housing allowances and appointed the crown prince to lead a national dialogue to resolve a crisis that in its early days claimed the lives of seven and wounded hundreds in protests. Tens of thousands of mainly Shiites protesters waving Bahraini flags marched Tuesday from a hospital in Manama to Pearl Square, the focal point of the protests.
