[VIDEO] Thousands gather to start week-long sit-in protest in Bahrain

Thousands of Bahrainis have gathered on Sunday to begin a week-long sit-in protest in Meqsha, north of Bahrain.

The sit-in precedes the anniversary of the Shia-led mass protests, which started on February 14, 2011, which have almost gone unnoticed within the international community and international media.

Sunday night, Sheikh Ali Salman, leader of the opposition society Al Wefaq, delivered a speech in front of over 10,000 Bahrainis, according to Reuters, who had gathered to start a week-long protest ahead of anniversary of the revolution. Sheikh Ali Salman asked demonstrators to keep the protests peaceful reminding the crowd that they will probably be provoked.

Poetess Ayat al-Qurmezi, one of the figure of the movement also addressed the people saying that they would not give up as long as “political prisoners are behind bars." She vowed they will return to the Pearl Roundabout, the ground zero of the revolution, where protests had been violently quelled last year, "This is a dress rehearsal for the return. We will return! We will return! Soon our sit-in will not be here but at the Pearl Roundabout."

The main opposition society Al Wefaq is calling for reforms and the release of political prisoners. Protests have been organized everyday across the kingdom which resulted in more than 50 deaths and hundreds of injured. The reforms demanded include an elected government and less powers for the Al Khalifa family, the Sunni Muslim minority which has ruled the Shiite-majority country for more than two centuries.

Photo : @BahrainPictures