Bahraini protesters stage rallies nationwide on eve of uprising anniversary

Bahrainis have staged demonstrations across the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom on the eve of the tenth anniversary of the popular uprising against the Al Khalifah regime, and its heavy-handed crackdown on pro-democracy campaigners. On Friday night, demonstrators took to the streets west of the capital Manama, carrying pictures of Bahrain's most prominent cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim, imprisoned political dissidents as well as those killed at the hands of regime forces. They called for an end to human rights violations and the release of political detainees. The pro-democracy protesters urged the Al Khalifah regime to relinquish power and allow the establishment of a just system representing all strata of the society. Elsewhere in the northern villages of Abu Saiba and Shakhura, groups of young demonstrators expressed their solidarity with the popular uprising and detained anti-regime activists through writing graffiti on walls.