Thousands of Shi'ite protesters marched into the capital of Bahrain after a man was killed in clashes between police and mourners at a funeral for a demonstrator shot dead at an earlier anti-government rally.
The death raised the prospect of further clashes between Bahrain's majority Shi'ite Muslims and the Sunni security forces backed by the ruling Al Khalifa dynasty.
Bahrain's main Shi'ite opposition bloc Wefaq, which accuses rulers of discriminating and neglecting Shi'ites, responded to the violence by boycotting parliament. Enraged mourners chanted anti-government slogans inspired by protests that toppled the rulers of Egypt and Tunisia.
"The people demand the fall of the regime!" they said, as thousands poured into Pearl Roundabout in Manama's city centre. They had marched from the funeral on the outskirts of Manama. Dozens of police cars were parked 500 metres away.
Protesters said their principal demand was the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa who has governed the country since its independence in 1971.
