(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Dozens of workers also joined the demonstrators in Manama on Sunday, and more than 1,000 medics marched on the square to demand the resignation of the health minister, whom they accused of slowing aid to protesters during a deadly police crackdown.
After nightfall, thousands more people converged on the roundabout, which has been the focal point of demonstrations that have rocked the small but strategic Persian Gulf kingdom since February 14.
The opposition has also called a large protest for Tuesday afternoon in the hope that tens of thousands of people will converge on Pearl Square, according to the INAA, Bahrain's main Shia opposition group.
An early morning raid on Thursday resulted in the deaths of four people and was followed by the army deploying in the square.
But protesters flocked back on Saturday after the army was ordered back to base.
Riot police fired tear gas in an unsuccessful attempt to disperse them but then withdrew as Crown Prince Salman, deputy commander of the Armed Forces, ordered both police and troops to hold back.
After their first night since returning to the square passed peacefully, protesters erected more tents on Sunday afternoon, signaling they were not planning to leave any time soon.
With the focus switching to talks rather than clashes, Bahrain's main trade union called off a general strike it had organized for Monday, saying its main demand for the right to demonstrate peacefully had been met.
"In the light of the army's withdrawal and respect of the right to demonstrate peacefully, the general union for labor syndicates has decided to suspend the general strike and return to work on Monday," the union said.
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