The new conditions, which also include ending sectarian rhetoric and removing forces which have surrounded a major hospital in recent days, would bring the political process back to the position it was in before the uprising began a month ago.
"As political parties, we will not back down under threat and we will not come to talks with guns pointed to our heads," said Mattar Ibrahim Mattar, a former Wefaq representative, before the bloc withdrew from parliament a few weeks ago.
BACK TO WORK
Sunday was the first working day after a week that saw closures of schools and universities to prevent outbreaks of sectarian clashes that had been erupting almost daily.
An uneasy calm spread through the city as most Bahrainis went back to work and there were fewer checkpoints in the streets.
Meanwhile, thousands of Bahrainis mourning the death of a protester have staged another anti-government demonstration in the capital Manama, calling for an overthrow of the Bahraini regime, Press TV reported. Chanting slogans against Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the demonstrators have vowed to continue their anti-government protests until the collapse of the regime.
The rally was held on Saturday at the funeral of Ahmed Abdullah Ahsan, a computer technician who died of wounds sustained earlier this week during the latest crackdown by Bahraini and Saudi forces on anti-government protests.
"With blood, with our lives, we will defend our martyrs," shouted mourners while shaking their fists, Reuters reported. "Down with King Hamad," they cried. “All he wanted was security. All he wanted was security and for the regime to fall. He never asked for money or anything. He has always relied on himself, not on his mother or father but when he heard about what's going on there (in the roundabout) he went to help," Ahsan's mother said.
PRESSURE ON ACTIVISTS
In a related development, Press TV reported that Bahraini security agents have interrogated Nabeel Rajab, a prominent human rights activist, as the regime escalates pressure on anti-government demonstrators.
Rajab, the head of the Bahrain Human Rights Center, has been questioned after he "was taken away by masked security officials early Sunday," his wife said, quoted in an AP report.
Rajab's wife, Sumaya Rajab, added that her husband was released after the interrogation. She added that security forces also seized a number of computers, CDs and mobile phones.
After a brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters on Wednesday, the regime widened pressure on political and human rights advocates under the pretext of an emergency rule declared by Bahrain's rulers.
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