MANAMA: Thousands of Bahrainis joined Tuesday the funeral of a slain Shia protester as King Hamad ordered political prisoners freed in a new bid to end a standoff with anti-regime demonstrators.
Mourners chanted anti-regime slogans as the funeral procession wound through Manama streets, while vast crowds of protesters converged on Pearl Square to demand the fall of the regime despite one of their demands release of political prisoners having been met.
Chants of "sit-in, sit-in, until the regime falls" reverberated across Pearl Square, the epicentre of anti-regime protests since February 14 which has now been turned into a tent city.
The Shia-led opposition has called for a demonstration Tuesday afternoon in Manama, the first to be officially called for by political associations since protest started last week in response to calls by cyber activists.
Tuesday's demonstration has been titled "the march of loyalty to martyrs," said Ibrahim al-Sharif, a Sunni secularist leading opposition activist.
"We expect it to be the largest for the opposition," he said.
The protest comes a day after King Hamad bin Isaa al-Khalifa answered a crucial opposition demand by ordering the release of political prisoners and halting trial procedures against others.
The Islamic National Accord Association (INAA) which is the main Shia formation and controls 18 seats in the 40-member parliament had demanded along with other opposition groups, the release of prisoners before considering a call for dialogue.
INAA quit the parliament last week in protest to security forces opening fire on demonstrations, during which seven people were killed and scores injured.
The protester being buried on Tuesday, 20-year-old Redha Mohammed died of his wounded on Monday after being shot by police three days earlier.
Tuesday's protest comes after pro-government Sunnis rallied in their thousands at a Manama mosque Monday evening pledging loyalty to the al-Khalifa family, and calling on protesters to answer an invitation by Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad to engage in wide-reaching dialogue.
A senior opposition figure, Hassan Mashaima, who was being tried in absentia, has said he plans to return home on Tuesday, adding yet more pressure on the royal family for reform.
A leader of the opposition Haq movement, Mashaima told AFP before King Hamad's pardon was announced he would return to Manama but had "no guarantees" he would not be arrested on arrival.
"I have decided to return to my country," said Mashaima, a Shia who is currently in London and faces charges of terrorism in his native Bahrain, along with 24 others.
The names of those included in the king's pardon will be announced on Tuesday, state news agency BNA reported.
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