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Updated Saturday, July 2, 2011 0:05 am TWN, By Reed Stevenson and Erika Solomon, Reuters

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Ahead of Bahrain talks, protesters still skeptical

MANAMA/DUBAI -- Bahrain launches a national dialogue on Saturday but majority Shi'ites are skeptical the ruling Sunni monarchy is willing to offer the sort of concessions that could heal wounds caused by a crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

The kingdom, which hosts the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, has accused its majority Shi'ite population of leading pro-democracy protesters according to a sectarian agenda backed from Shi'ite power Iran, across Persian Gulf waters.

In March, Bahrain's Sunni rulers imposed emergency law, inviting Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to send troops and tanks into the island as local forces cleared the streets of protestors.

Inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt that toppled rulers in those countries, Bahrain's Shi'ites called for fairer political representation as a way to end what they believe was systematic discrimination in access to jobs and social services.

“We need to ensure this dialogue quickly offers real political situations to create stability,” said Wefaq spokesman Khalil al-Marzouq. “Otherwise the situation will explode again.”

King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa said “all options” were on the table” for negotiation at the conference on the tiny Gulf island nation, which is expected to last for at least a month.

But with protests erupting daily in the Shi'ite villages ringing the capital Manama, opposition groups complain they are under-represented at the meeting and warn democratic reforms must come quickly to avoid more unrest.

Reflecting the deep societal divide and mistrust of the talks, Wefaq, the leading Shi'ite opposition group, had not decided whether to attend the gathering just 24 hours before the start.

Bahrain has offered some concessions ahead of Saturday's talks. It established a panel to investigate deaths and arrests that Shi'ites bore the brunt of after the protests, and plans to withdraw most Saudi troops.

National dialogue spokesman Isa Abdulrahman said the dialogue offered an opportunity for reform and easing Sunni and Shi'ite divisions that threaten the country.

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