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Thousands Protest at Bahrain Prime Minister's Office

   Diaa Bekheet  March 06, 2011
   Bahraini anti-government protesters form a human chain Saturday, March
   5, 2011

Photo: AP

   Bahraini anti-government protesters form a human chain Saturday, March
   5, 2011, stretching about seven kilometers (four miles) around Manama,
   Bahrain, from the country's main Fateh Mosque to the Pearl roundabout

   Thousands  of  anti-government demonstrators in Bahrain rallied Sunday
   outside  the  prime  minister's  office  --  their  latest  push  in a
   weeks-long campaign for political reform.
   The  protesters  chanted  slogans  against  the  ruling  family. Prime
   Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa has been in power for 40
   years and is the uncle of King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa.
   The  Shi'ite-led  opposition  in the small Gulf island nation has been
   demanding the resignation of the entire government, which is dominated
   by the al-Khalifa family.
   Protesters  say  they want the Sunni monarchy to transfer powers to an
   elected government that is representative of the Gulf state's majority
   Shi'ites.
   A  government  crackdown on opposition protests that began February 14
   killed  seven  demonstrators  before the island state's rulers agreed,
   under   pressure   from   their  Western  allies,  to  allow  peaceful
   demonstrations to continue.
   Manama's Pearl Square has been the epicenter of the protests.

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