TWO killed as more protests calledMANAMA: Bahrain's king said Tuesday in a televised address that he was sorry for the deaths of two Shiite demonstrators in clashes with police and announced a ministerial probe. “In light of the incidents that took place yesterday and today... There have been sadly two deaths. I express my deep condolences to their families,” King Hamad bin Issa Al-Khalifa said. “Everyone should know that I have assigned Deputy Prime Minister Jawad Al-Orayedh to form a special committee to find out the reasons that led to such regrettable events,” he added. Two Shiite demonstrators were killed in clashes with Bahraini police, sparking calls to step up anti-government protests Tuesday and a walkout from parliament of the main Shiite opposition bloc. The killing raised fears of further clashes between Bahrain's majority Shiite Muslims and the Sunni security forces backed by the ruling Al-Khalifa dynasty, accused of discriminating and neglecting its Shiite population. The violence prompted Bahrain's main Shiite opposition bloc Wefaq to suspend its participation in parliament and further enraged mourners who chanted anti-government slogans inspired by protests that toppled the rulers of Egypt and Tunisia. Witnesses said the clashes broke out when around 2,000 people set out from hospital to slowly escort the body of slain protester Ali Mushaima through narrow alleys of Shiite villages on the outskirts of Bahrain's capital toward his home, where his body was to be washed before burial. Diplomats say Bahrain's protests, organized on the internet, may gauge whether a larger Shiite base can be drawn to the streets to raise pressure on the state for reforms that would give Shi'ites a greater voice and better economic prospects. Analysts say large-scale unrest in Bahrain, also home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet and a regional offshore banking centre, could also embolden fellow marginalised Shi'ites in nearby Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter. Stability concerns pushed up the cost of insuring Bahrain's debt to the highest level since August 2009, with 5-year credit default swaps rising 12 basis points, according to Markit. Ibrahim Mattar, a Wefaq parliamentarian whose bloc won 18 of 40 seats in parliament's lower house in a tightly controlled October election, said suspending participation in parliament was a first step.
