Thousands of mourners have called for the downfall of Bahrain’s ruling monarchy as funerals begin for the victims of the security forces’ attack on pro-reform protesters.
The clampdown on protesters has brought tanks on to the streets of one of the most important Western allies in the Gulf.
The calls against Bahrain’s king and his inner circle reflect an escalation of the protesters’ demands.
They began just with calls to weaken the Sunni monarchy’s hold on top government posts and address claims of discrimination against the Shiite majority.
The mood, however, appears to have turned toward defiance of the entire ruling system after the brutal attack on Thursday on a protest encampment in the capital, Manama, which left at least five dead and more than 230 injured.
Now the tiny island nation is under emergency-style footing with military forces in key areas and checkpoints on main roads.
“The regime has broken something inside of me … All of these people gathered today have had something broken in them,” said Ahmed Makki Abu Taki, whose 23-year-old brother Mahmoud was killed in the pre-dawn sweep through the protest camp in Manama’s Pearl Square.
“We used to demand for the prime minister to step down, but now our demand is for the ruling family to get out.”
Outside a village mosque, several thousand mourners gathered to bury three men killed in the crackdown. The first body, covered in black velvet, was passed hand to hand towards a grave as it was being dug.
Amid the Shiite funeral rites, many chanted for the removal of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the entire Sunni dynasty that has ruled for more than two centuries in Bahrain, the first nation in the Gulf to feel the pressure for changes sweeping the Arab world.
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