Bahrain army withdrawn, police attack protesters, Posted by Meosha Eaton

* Army ordered to stand down, police to keep order
* Police disperse protesters trying to regain Pearl Square
* Shi'ite bloc wanted troop withdrawal before any dialogue
(Recasts, adds Shi'ite MPs, union strike call, hospital)
By Cynthia Johnston and Frederik Richter

MANAMA, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Bahraini troops and armoured vehicles on Saturday rolled out of a Manama square that had been a base for anti-government protesters, meeting one opposition condition for a dialogue proposed by the king. But when a few protesters tried to regain their former stronghold in Pearl Square, police beat them back. At least 100 riot police took up position, while a group of about 50 demonstrators stood about 50 metres (yards) away. One man raced to the centre of the traffic circle, fell to his knees to kiss the yellowed grass and began praying as other protesters celebrated. Moments later, 10 police cars pulled up and policemen beat up one protester and fired teargas. At least 100 riot police took up position, while a group of about 50 demonstrators stood about 50 metres (yards) away. Troops in tanks and armoured vehicles took over the traffic circle on Thursday after riot police attacked protesters who had camped out there, killing four people and wounding 231. Bahrain's crown prince announced that all troops had been ordered off the streets and that police would maintain order. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Factbox on protesters' demands [ID:nLDE71E1RA] Interactive factbox http://link.reuters.com/puk87r For related stories on Mideast unrest click [ID:nLDE71F0BK] Analysis on regional financial impact [ID:nLDE71E0YN] Background analysis on Bahrain politics [ID:nLDE7170WL] Factbox on political risks in Bahrain [ID:nRISKBH] Factbox on political actors in Bahrain [ID:nLDE6780D9] ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> "That's a very positive step," Jasim Hussain, a member of the main Shi'ite Wefaq bloc that quit parliament on Thursday, told Reuters. "They're trying to ease the tensions. I don't know whether it will be sufficient." Wefaq had earlier rejected a call by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa for a national dialogue to end the unrest that has rocked Bahrain since Monday, saying troops must be withdrawn first, among other conditions. Another Wefaq lawmaker said the troop pullout was not enough by itself. "There's no difference if people are killed by the military or by the security forces," said Ibrahim Mattar. "STOP KILLING PEOPLE" "We hope to hear a clear message from the government that it will stop killing people who are protesting peacefully." Mattar said the king must accept the "concept" of constitutional monarchy, as well as withdrawing the military. "Then we can go for a temporary government of new faces that would not include the current interior or defence ministers." He reiterated an opposition demand for the king to fire his uncle, Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, prime minister since Bahrain gained its independence in 1971.

"We are not going to enter a dialogue as Shi'ites," Mattar said. "They try to put the issue in this frame. The dialogue should be with all people who were protesting. Some are liberal, non-Islamic. Some are Sunni and some Shi'ite." Shi'ites, who make up about 70 percent of Bahraini nationals feel cut out of decision-making in the Sunni-ruled state and complain of discrimination in access to state jobs and housing. On Friday, the king offered a national dialogue with all parties to try to end the turmoil fuelled by Shi'ite grievances in which six people have been killed and hundreds wounded. U.S. President Barack Obama spoke to King Hamad on Friday, condemning the violence and urging the government to show restraint and respect the rights of its people. MILITARY ORDERED TO WITHDRAW "Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, has ordered the withdrawal of all military from the streets of Bahrain with immediate effect," a statement said on Saturday. "The Bahrain police force will continue to oversee law and order."

More than 60 people were in hospital with wounds sustained on Friday when security forces fired on protesters as they headed to Pearl Square, then still in military hands. Also on Friday, Shi'ite mourners buried the four people killed in the raid on Pearl Square, which protesters had hoped to turn into a base like Cairo's Tahrir Square, the heart of a revolt that ousted Egypt's Hosni Mubarak. The European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton voiced concern about reports on violence by the security forces. "I urge the Bahraini authorities to respect fundamental human rights including freedom of expression and the right to assemble freely," she said, appealing to all parties to use restraint.

Young activists had also called for an open-ended strike from Sunday and the closure of all public and private schools on a Facebook page called the "February 14 revolution in Bahrain". They demanded that protesters be allowed back into Pearl Square, the release of all political prisoners and word on the fate of missing people, as well as the resignations of the defence and interior ministers and the security chief. A naval base near Manama that hosts the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet helps the United States to project power across the Middle East and Central Asia, including Iraq and Afghanistan.

A Fleet spokesman said there was no significant impact on operations and Jennifer Stride, spokeswoman for the U.S. naval base, said no evacuation of families was planned. The United States is caught between the desire for stability in an ally seen as a bulwark against Iran and the need to uphold the people's right to express their grievances. The unrest in Bahrain, a minor non-OPEC oil producer and regional banking hub, has shaken confidence in the economy. In 1999, King Hamad introduced a constitution allowing elections for a parliament with some powers, but royals still dominate a cabinet led by the king's uncle for 40 years.

(Additional reporting by Michael Georgy in Manama, Ross Colvin in Washington and Charlie Dunmore in Brussels; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Bahrain police teargas protesters, Libyans clash, Posted by Meosha Eaton

As reported by Reuters:

* Libyans take to streets after protesters killed
* Bahrain opposition bloc snubs king's offer of talks
* Rights group says death toll in Libya now 84
(Updates Bahrain, Libya, adds Yemen, Algeria, UK's Hague)

By Cynthia Johnston and Frederik Richter
MANAMA, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Two of the Middle East's most entrenched rulers were battling to quell unrest on Saturday after security forces killed dozens of protesters in Libya and police fired teargas at demonstrators in the Bahraini capital.

Unrest has spread from Tunisia and Egypt to Bahrain, Libya, Yemen and Djibouti, as people of one country after another shed their fear of oppressive, autocratic rulers and took to the streets demanding democratic change and economic opportunity. Protesters in Algiers on Saturday were surrounded by police and corralled into a courtyard, pro- and anti-government crowds in the Yemeni capital Sanaa hurled stones at each other, and protesters clashed with security forces in Djibouti.

Libyan security forces killed 35 people in the eastern city of Benghazi late on Friday, Human Rights Watch cited witnesses and hospital sources as saying, in the worst violence of Muammar Gaddafi's four decades in power. Protests against Gaddafi's rule this week, inspired by the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, were met with a fierce security crackdown, especially in the restive east around Benghazi. A security source said clashes were still under way on Saturday in the region between Benghazi and Al Bayda, 200 km away, where local people said security forces had killed dozens of people in the past 72 hours.

The area is "80 percent under control ... a lot of police stations have been set on fire or damaged," the source said. New York-based Human Rights Watch said Friday's killings took to 84 its estimate for the death toll in three days of protests, mostly around Benghazi, against a ruling elite accused of hoarding Libya's oil wealth and denying political freedoms. It said the deaths in the city, 1,000 km (600 miles) east of Tripoli, happened when security forces opened fire on people protesting after funeral processions for people killed in earlier violence. There was no official word on the death toll.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague urged Libya to stop using force against protesters and asked Middle East governments to respond to the "legitimate aspirations" of their people.
"I condemn the violence in Libya, including reports of the use of heavy weapons fire and a unit of snipers against demonstrators," Hague said in a statement. "This is clearly unacceptable and horrifying."
In Bahrain, a key U.S. ally and home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, troops and armoured vehicles left a Manama square that had been a base for anti-government protesters, hours after opposition groups rejected a royal call for dialogue unless the military stood down.

Police firing teargas beat back the few demonstrators who tried to move back into their former stronghold in Pearl Square after the army pullout. The crown prince, charged by King Hamad on Friday with opening a dialogue with the protesters, announced that all troops had been ordered off the streets and that police would maintain order. The announcement met one of the conditions for talks spelt out by a Shi'ite ex-lawmer of the main Shi'ite opposition bloc, Wefax, which quit parliament on Thursday.

Ibrahim Mattar told Reuters the authorities must "accept the concept of constitutional monarchy" and pull troops off the streets before a dialogue could begin. "Then we can go for a temporary government of new faces that would not include the current interior or defence ministers," he said.
The government is led by the Sunni Muslim Al Khalifa dynasty, but the majority Shi'ite population has long complained about what it sees as discrimination in access to state jobs, housing and healthcare, a charge the government denies. The United States and top oil producer Saudi Arabia see Bahrain as a Sunni bulwark against neighbouring Shi'ite regional power Iran.

The spreading unrest -- particularly worries about its possible effects on the world No. 1 oil producer, Saudi Arabia -- helped drive Brent crude prices higher this week before other factors caused them to slip on Friday.
It was also a factor in gold prices posting their best weekly performance since December.
Analysts say a key difference between Libya and Egypt is that Gaddafi has oil cash to smooth over social problems. He is also respected in much of the country, though less so in the Cyrenaica region around Benghazi.

"There is no national uprising," said Noman Benotman, a former opposition Libyan Islamist based in Britain but currently in Tripoli. "I don't think Libya is comparable to Egypt or Tunisia. Gaddafi would fight to the very last moment," he said by telephone from the Libyan capital.

In Yemen, supporters and opponents of the government threw stones at each other and fired shots in the air in Sanaa, a day after five people were killed and dozens wounded in clashes in several towns between security forces and crowds demanding an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 32-year rule. Saleh, a U.S. ally against a Yemen-based al Qaeda wing that has launched attacks at home and abroad, is struggling to end month-old protests flaring across his impoverished country. In Algiers, police in riot gear crammed some 500 protesters into the courtyard of a residential block before they could reach May 1 Square in the city centre.

The main opposition parties did not take part in the banned protest, which was organised by human rights groups, some trade unionists and a small opposition party.

This, like other recent demonstrations in Algeria for democratic change and better economic conditions, was too small to rattle the authorities, but there have been signs that pressure is building within the ruling group for substantial change, including a new government line-up.

The political uprising sweeping through the Middle East has also reached the tiny Horn of Africa state of Djibouti, where anti-government protesters clashed with security forces on Saturday for the second day running.

On Friday, thousands of protesters called for the removal of President Ismail Omar Guelleh, whose family has held sway in Djibouti since independence in 1977. Guelleh took office in 1999 and is expected to run for a third term in April 2011.

Djibouti, a former French colony between Eritrea and Somalia, hosts France's largest military base in Africa and a major U.S. base. Its port is used by foreign navies patrolling busy shipping lanes off the coast of Somalia to fight piracy. Unemployment runs at about 60 percent.

(Additional reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers, William Maclean in London and Saleh Al-Shaibany in Muscat; Writing by Tim Pearce, )