Shi'ite dissident returns to Bahrain from exile, Posted by Meosha Eaton

* Shi'ite opposition leader allowed to return unhindered
* Cabinet reshuffle unlikely to pacify protesters
* Health, housing, cabinet affairs ministers replaced

(Adds confirmation of cabinet reshuffle)
By Frederik Richter

MANAMA, Feb 26 (Reuters) - A hardline Shi'ite dissident flew home to Bahrain from exile on Saturday to join an opposition movement demanding that the island kingdom's Sunni ruling family grant more rights. King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa reshuffled the cabinet but this appeared unlikely to pacify protesters inspired by popular uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere.

"We want a real constitution," Hassan Mushaimaa told reporters at the airport on his return. "They've promised us (one) before and then did whatever they wanted to."
"I'm here to see what are the demands of the people at the square and sit with them and talk to them," he said, referring to anti-government protesters camped in Manama's Pearl Square.

Thousands of demonstrators marched from Pearl Square to a former office of Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa on Saturday in a new tactic to press demands for the removal of the man who had held his post for 40 years.
Sheikh Khalifa, the king's uncle, is a symbol of the ruling family's political power and wealth.

The march was the protesters' first foray into a government and commercial district of Manama. They halted at a compound which also houses the Foreign Ministry. Many waved Bahraini flags and chanted: "The people want the fall of the regime". Mushaimaa, London-based leader of the Shi'ite Haq movement, had been on trial in his absence over an alleged coup plot.

The other defendants in the case were freed in Bahrain this week and the Gulf Arab state's foreign minister said Mushaimaa had received a royal pardon and could return home unhindered. Allowing him to return was the latest in a series of concessions by the ruling al-Khalifa family aimed at placating Bahrain's majority Shi'ites who have been at the forefront of nearly two weeks of protests demanding more say in government.

Tens of thousands thronged the streets of Manama on Friday, declared a day of mourning by the government, in one of the biggest demonstrations since a "Day of Rage" on Feb. 14. Security forces did not interfere. Last week seven people were killed and hundreds wounded in unrest before Bahraini rulers, under pressure from their Western allies, pledged to allow peaceful protests and offered dialogue with opponents. This week the government released more than 300 people detained since a crackdown on Shi'ite unrest in August.


SOP TO OPPOSITION
In the cabinet reshuffle, the ministers of housing, health and cabinet affairs were replaced, according to the official Bahrain News Agency (BNA).
Majeed al-Alawi, a former opposition activist who served as labour minister, was made housing minister. Nazar al-Baharna, an outgoing minister of state for foreign affairs and one of the highest-ranking Shi'ite government officials, took the health portfolio, BNA said. Replacing the ministers of health and housing could be a concession to Shi'ites who have complained of discrimination in public services, complaints the government says are unjustified.

Many of the protesters were demanding a constitutional monarchy instead of the existing system where citizens vote for a mostly toothless parliament and policy remains the preserve of an elite centred on the al-Khalifa dynasty which has ruled Bahrain for 200 years.

The main Shi'ite opposition group Wefaq said in a statement the reshuffle fell far short of people's demands and called for the entire government to step down. Mushaimaa's Haq party is more radical than Wefaq, from which it split in 2006 when Wefaq contested a parliamentary election, effectively legitimising it. Opposition groups want to see a commitment to an elected government instead of one appointed by the king before they enter any dialogue. Before the reshuffle, about two-thirds of the cabinet were members of the ruling family.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Attiatullah al-Khalifa, minister for cabinet affairs, was replaced by Kamal Ahmed, a former official at the Economic Development Board, a body used by Bahrain's crown prince to implement economic reforms. BNA also said that the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) would be transformed into a ministry of energy headed by the head of NOGA Abdul-Hussain bin Ali Mirza. His portfolio would include electricity and water affairs.

(Reporting by Frederik Richter; writing by Alistair Lyon; editing by Andrew Dobbie )

Bahrain frees prisoners to mollify protesters, Posted by Meosha Eaton

* Bahrain frees 23 accused in coup plot against monarchy
* About 250 detainees freed overnight as sop to protesters
* Exiled Shi'ite leader expected to return soon
(Adds details on prisoner release, comment from lawyer, Bahrain king in Saudi Arabia)
By Frederik Richter

MANAMA, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Bahrain has freed 23 people accused of trying to topple the island's Sunni Muslim monarchy, along with more than 200 other mostly Shi'ite prisoners detained in recent months, a lawyer said on Wednesday. The prisoner release was a further concession to the mainly Shi'ite protesters who took to the streets last week to demand a constitutional monarchy and an elected government, emboldened by a surge of popular unrest across the Arab world. It also preceded the expected return to Bahrain of Hassan Mushaimaa, leader of the hardline Shi'ite Haq party, one of two people tried in absentia for his part in the alleged coup plot.

Mohammed al-Tajer, a lawyer for the 23 activists, told Reuters that about 250 prisoners had been released. Most were detained as part of a crackdown launched on some Shi'ite opposition groups last August and during subsequent protests. The opposition describes youngsters arrested during clashes with security forces in Shi'ite villages as political prisoners. Tajer said detainees picked up in last week's confrontations between security forces and protesters had been freed earlier. He said it was not clear if the 25 charged in the coup plot had received royal pardons or if the case could be revived. "If this is just a suspension of the charges, they might bring up the case again or file other charges. We're waiting for an official statement," he said. Opposition leaders welcomed the prisoner release.

"Allowing the people to protest and releasing those people are positive moves," said Ibrahim Mattar of the main Shi'ite Wefaq party. Opposition groups were waiting for the royal family to accept the principle of a constitutional monarchy before they would enter into a dialogue offered by the king, he added.
Majority Shi'ites have long complained of discrimination in Sunni-ruled Bahrain, which is a close U.S. and Saudi ally. King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa was in Riyadh to welcome home Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah from an extended absence due to ill-health, a sign of tight ties between the Bahraini royals and their far stronger Saudi counterparts. Saudi Arabia is concerned unrest in Bahrain might spread to its own Shi'ite minority.

Bahrain's 70 percent Shi'ite majority wants to overhaul a system where parliament has little power and policy remains the preserve of an elite centred on the royal al-Khalifa family. The al-Khalifa dynasty has ruled Bahrain for 200 years, and the family dominates a cabinet led by the king's uncle, who has been prime minister since independence from Britain in 1971. Before the prisoner release, Bahrain's rulers had agreed to allow peaceful protests and had offered dialogue on reform. "The main point we are waiting for is the initiative for political reform. Until now they didn't promise anything," Mattar said. "If they don't say it, we are wasting our time."


YOUTHS EMERGE FROM JAIL
Protesters had demanded the release of political prisoners in Bahrain, where seven people were killed and hundreds wounded in demonstrations last week. In the first releases, late on Tuesday night, two dozen relatives waited at the jail for teenaged prisoners, who emerged one by one with solemn, unshaven faces. Some waved victory signs. One waiting mother tossed a sprig of basil in the air to welcome her freed son, a Reuters photographer said.The 23 men jailed for the coup plot, who include some Shi'ite clerics, were put on trial in October after a broad security crackdown on some Shi'ite opposition groups in August.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised Bahrain's king and crown prince for freeing political prisoners,  allowing peaceful demonstrations and offering talks with the opposition. "These steps will need to be followed by concrete actions and reforms," she told reporters on Tuesday, warning that "there is no place for violence against peaceful protesters". Bahrain is a small but strategic U.S. ally that hosts the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet in a region shadowed by fears of Iran's nuclear ambitions.

In Bahrain, as in Egypt and Tunisia, the United States has tried to walk a difficult line in dealing with popular revolts against entrenched Arab leaders long allied to Washington. "Across the Middle East, people are calling on their governments to be more open, more accountable and more responsive. Without genuine progress toward open and accountable political systems the gap between people and their governments can only grow and instability can only deepen," Clinton said.

Mushaimaa, the Shi'ite opposition leader, was due to have returned from exile in London on Tuesday, but was barred from a Bahrain-bound flight from Beirut where he had stopped over. Tens of thousands of Shi'ite protesters filled streets in Manama on Tuesday demanding the fall of the Sunni-run government in the biggest protest since unrest began last week. The Bahrain government denies it treats Shi'ites unfairly. In a rally covered by state television on Monday, thousands carried Bahraini flags and signs supporting unity and dialogue.

(Reporting by Cynthia Johnston in Dubai, and Mohammed Arshad and Andrew Quinn in Washington; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Louise Ireland)