Bahrain protesters vow not to budge from Pearl Square

MANAMA - BAHRAIN protesters vowed on Wednesday not to budge from Pearl Square, epicentre of anti-regime demonstrations, despite the release of leading Shiite opposition activists and renewed calls by the king for talks.

'Even if they put the gun in my mouth and order me to leave, I will not,' said Sabah Abadi, a retired municipal employee who sat in a tent with his son and friends in the square.

'I'm here day and night.' A day after a massive protest clogged the main roads of Manama, the predominantly Shiite demonstrators again crowded into Pearl Square, chanting: 'We are brothers, Sunnis and Shiites. We shall not abandon this country.' 'We shall never be humiliated,' shouted one woman, evoking a traditional Shiite slogan that blared out of megaphones across the square.

The protesters, who have relentlessly hit the streets on a daily basis since Feb 14, have renamed Pearl Square 'Martyrs' Roundabout' to honour the victims of a deadly police raid on Thursday.