Podcast

Bahrain's opposition groups ease demands, call for talks

Updated: 2011-03-21 10:27

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Main opposition groups in Bahrain have eased their conditions for talks to end a crisis that has drawn in neighboring Gulf armies and raised tensions in the oil-exporting region.

The groups led by Bahrain's largest Shiite Muslim opposition party, Wefaq, in a statement late on Saturday called on security forces to free all those detained, end their crackdown and ask Gulf Arab troops to leave so talks could begin.

"Prepare a healthy atmosphere for the start of a political dialogue between the opposition and the government on a basis that can put our country on the track to real democracy and away from the abyss," it said.

The group retreated from much more ambitious conditions for talks it set last week, including the creation of a new government not dominated by royals and the establishment of a special elected council to redraft Bahrain's constitution.

The new conditions, which also include ending sectarian rhetoric and removing forces who have surrounded a major hospital in recent days, would bring the political process back to the position it was in before the uprising began a month ago.

Bahraini police and troops moved on Wednesday to end weeks of protests by mainly Shiite demonstrators that prompted the king to declare martial law and drew in troops from Bahrain's fellow Sunni-ruled neighbors.

The ferocity of the crackdown, in which troops and police fanned out across Bahrain, imposed a curfew and banned all public gatherings and marches, has stunned Bahrain's majority Shiites and angered the region's non-Arab Shiite power, Iran.

More than 60 percent of Bahrainis are Shiites. Most are campaigning for a constitutional monarchy, but calls by hardliners for the overthrow of the monarchy have alarmed Sunnis, who fear the unrest serves Iran, separated from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain by only a short stretch of Gulf waters.

Questions:

1. What is the name of Bahrain's largest Shiite Muslim opposition party?

2. When did police and troops move to end weeks of protests?

3. More than 60 percent of Bahrainis belong to which group?

Answers:

1. Wefaq.

2. Wednesday.

3. Shiites.

去聽寫專區一展身手

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.