Friday, March 9, 2012

Bahrain's Shias demand reform at mass rally



Tens of thousands march along a main road near capital after sermon from leading Shia cleric urging greater democracy.

Al-Jazeera

"Tens of thousands of Bahrainis have demonstrated outside the capital Manama to demand political reforms, a year after the Gulf Arab state crushed an uprising, witnesses said.

The protesters began marching along a main road near the city on Friday in response to a call from leading Shia cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim who urged people to renew their calls for greater democracy.

A live blog showed images of the protesters carrying banners denouncing "dictatorship" and demanding the release of detainees.

"We are here for the sake of our just demands that we cannot make concessions over and we stick with them because we have sacrificed for them," Qassim said before the march, during his weekly sermon in the Shia village of Diraz.

He had promised to personally lead the march, his most high-profile action in more than a year of unrest......"

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