Bahrain's opposition asked for U.N. and American intervention in the government crackdown on the Shiite protests trying to loosen the monarchy's grip, in a brief protest Sunday in the capital that disbanded before police could arrive to break it up.
The 18 opposition legislators protesting Sunday at the U.N. offices in Manama resigned last month to protest the crackdown on the monthlong revolt, inspired by the pro-democracy uprisings across the Arab world. Bahrain's king declared martial law last week, and a Saudi-led military force from other Gulf nations is in the country to back the Sunni monarchy.
In the five-minute protest, the lawmakers appealed to the U.N. to stop the violence against protesters and mediate talks between the opposition and the monarchy; they asked the U.S. to pressure the Gulf force to leave.
"They should return home. There is no need for them to be here since this a political, not a military problem," said Jassim Hussein, a former parliament member of Bahrain's largest Shiite group Al Wefaq.
The Gulf force underscores the deep worries about Bahrain's stability among the region's Sunni kings and sheiks, who fear any stumble by Bahrain's leaders could embolden challenges to their own regimes and possibly open political inroads for Shiite Iran.
Iran has condemned the presence of the Gulf force in Bahrain.
The United States has condemned the violence in Bahrain and called on the dialogue between the two sides.
The parliament is Bahrain's only elected body. It holds limited authority since all the country's decisions — including the appointment of government ministers — rest with the king.
Authorities have widened pressures on political activists and others under emergency rule interrogating human rights activists and detaining doctors from the state-run hospital who helped treat protesters at the height of the uprising.
Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Human Rights Center, was briefly detained Sunday by masked security officials, said his wife, Sumaya Rajab. She said agents also confiscated computers, CDs and mobile phones.
On Friday, officials wiped away a main symbol of the uprising. Cranes pulled down the 300-foot (90-meter) monument at the heart of a landmark square that has been occupied by protesters and the scene of deadly confrontations.
The monument — six white curved beams topped with a huge cement pearl — was built in Pearl Square as a tribute to the kingdom's history as a pearl-diving center. It became the backdrop to uprising after protesters set up camp at Pearl Square in the capital, Manama.
Security forces overran the camp on Wednesday, setting off clashes that killed at least five people, including two policemen.
At least 13 people have been killed in the monthlong revolt.
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