Bahrain cleric to rulers: Reform or risk ouster

Manama: Bahrain's most senior Shiite cleric warned Bahrain’s rulers to either ease their grip on power or risk joining Libya's Muammar Gaddafi and other Arab leaders swept aside by uprisings.

The defiant Friday sermon by Shaikh Essa Qassim was attended by thousands of worshippers after Bahrain's justice minister accused the cleric of promoting unrest.

Qassim vowed he would not be silenced, saying it's his religious duty to support demands by the opposition for greater rights.