(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Riot police in Bahrain fired tear gas and stun grenades Thursday to disperse thousands of opposition supporters gathered near the square that was the epicenter of the nation's Shiite-led demonstrations earlier this year, an activist said.
The violence is a setback to efforts by the tiny island's discriminate rulers trying to open reconciliation talks with the opposition in the Persian Gulf kingdom.
Human Rights Activist Nabeel Rajab said the protesters at Manama's Pearl Square chanted: "Down, down Hamad" — a reference to the Bahraini monarch. They also demanded that all demonstrators, opposition leaders and activists, detained during the deadly crackdown on the Shiite-led campaign for political freedom and greater rights, be released.
No injuries were immediately reported during Thursday's demonstration.
The violence came a day after Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa announced the creation of an independent commission that will investigate allegations that protesters' rights were violated during the anti-government demonstrations that erupted in February.
The announcement was an apparent effort by the Sunni monarch to draw opposition groups into the government-sponsored talks, set to begin on Saturday.
Washington has encouraged dialogue in the island nation, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, and had urged the monarchy to meet some of the opposition's demands.
But the king's appeal for dialogue got a cool reception from opposition groups. The leaders of the biggest Shiite party, Al Wefaq, have not yet decided whether they will join the talks.
Reports by Bahrain's rights groups that another protester died on Thursday as a result of injuries he sustained during the unrest could further erode Wefaq's appetite for reconciliation talks with the monarchy.
In another move to draw the reluctant Al Wefaq into the talks, authorities on Thursday halted bringing anti-government protesters to trial at a special tribunal with military prosecutors and transferred the cases to civilian courts, a lawyer said. The practice has been criticized as unfair by rights activists and the Persian Gulf kingdom's Western allies.
The special tribunal was set up in March, when Bahrain's discriminate Sunni rulers imposed martial law to help quash protests by Shiites demanding political freedoms and greater rights. The trials of dozens of opposition figures, human rights activists and Shiite professionals continued even after the emergency laws were lifted earlier this month.
A lawyer for a doctor who is among 47 health professionals on trial after they treated injured protesters said the proceedings have been moved to civilian courts. The medical staff are charged with participating in an effort to topple Bahrain's monarchy.
A hearing in the case of 20 doctors set for Thursday was canceled, the lawyer said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of jeopardizing clients in custody.
In his speech Wednesday, the king said Bahrain is committed to reform and respecting human rights. But he accused the protesters of pushing the country into a "state of chaos" with the street marches and sit-ins during the turmoil.
The king said the government will not interfere in the commission's probe into what he called the "unfortunate events" of February and March. The commission is to report its findings by Oct. 30.
The Shiite People condemned the announcement and demanded of the investigation of the killing, torture, detention, inhuman treatment of the Saudi-backed Bahraini forces on Shiiite Muslims of Bahrain from February to June 30th as the government wants to probe only February and March incidents.
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