Protesters Call For Reform In Bahrain
In the aftermath of the uprising in Egypt, the people of Bahrain are in the streets, taking over the city square. One person was killed in a clash with police Tuesday during a funeral, setting the stage for another confrontation tomorrow.
MELISSA BLOCK, Host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.
MICHELE NORRIS, Host:
Dramatic events today as the spillover continues from the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. In Iran, hardliners called for the death of opposition leaders. More on that in a few minutes.
BLOCK: As NPR's Peter Kenyon reports from Bahrain, protesters have now been allowed to occupy a central square. They're calling it their Tahrir Square.
PETER KENYON: Unidentified Group: (Chanting in foreign language)
KENYON: Unidentified Group: (Chanting in foreign language)
KENYON: Unidentified Group: (Chanting in foreign language)
KENYON: It was hard to tell who was more startled, the young men and women waving Bahraini flags or the drivers who slowed to a crawl, honking in solidarity and hanging out of windows to capture the scene on cell phone cameras.
(SOUNDBITE OF HONKING CARS)
KENYON: Sharif said despite some heated calls for regime change, what the demonstrators really want is for the royal family to live up to its promise of reform, not continue to crush dissent and, as he put it, bribe the citizens with payouts, such as the recent promise of a thousand dinars, more than $2,500 per family.
EBRAHIM SHARIF: We call the 1,000 dinar the Egyptian bonus. We want our own bonus. We want democracy, and we will take it in the streets of Bahrain.
KENYON: Actually, what Sharif wants is a constitutional monarchy, along the lines of Britain's. But he admits that's a longer-term project and will only happen if Bahrain's Sunni population joins the Shiites in the streets.
SHARIF: Unidentified Group: (Chanting in foreign language)
KENYON: Peter Kenyon, NPR News, Bahrain.
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