Dubai: Opposition protesters took to the streets in Bahrain on Friday chanting anti-government slogans.
Protesters marched along Budaiya highway, which links predominantly Shiite villages west of the capital, following a call by Bahrain’s main opposition groups.
Brandishing Bahrain’s red and white flags and posters of detainees. “Our homeland cannot remain a hostage to a small group that controls power and wealth,” said a statement by the opposition led by Al Wefaq, the main Shiite formation.
“It is the right of the Bahraini people, including all its groups, to have a peaceful rotation of power,” it said, referring to its demand for a real constitutional monarchy with an elected premier.
Bahraini authorities last week headed off a protest called for by the Tamarod opposition group, a new faction named after the Egyptian movement that led nationwide protests which triggered the ouster of Islamist president Mohammad Mursi.
The protest was planned to take place at the doorstep of the US embassy, but tight security measures around Shiite villages prevented protesters from reaching the designated spot.
