Libya protesters seize streets as Bahrain mood eases

Witnesses said the city was in chaos, with government buildings ransacked and troops and police forced to retreat to a fortified compound, from where they picked off demonstrators with sniper and heavy-weapons fire.

"The security forces are in their barracks and the city is in a state of civil mutiny," one witness told Reuters.

In the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain, thousands of anti-government protesters flooded into a Manama square on Sunday, some calling for immediate political change and others hoping for talks to resolve that crisis.

But after days of violence in the Sunni-ruled island state, the mood among the mainly Shi'ite protesters appeared to be more conciliatory, with talks due to take place on Sunday between the opposition and the crown prince.

Unrest also hit Yemen, Morocco, Oman, Kuwait, Algeria and Djibouti over the weekend as people took to the streets demanding political and economic change.

The clamour for reform across a region of huge strategic importance to the West and the source of much of its oil began in Tunisia in December. The overthrow of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali then inspired Egyptians to rise up against strongman Hosni Mubarak, sending him packing on February 11.

The tide has challenged leaders of countries long backed by the West as well as sometime enemies. While each has its own dynamics, from religion to tribalism, all seem united by frustration over economic hardship and a lack of political freedom under entrenched elites.

BLOODSHED IN BENGHAZI

In Libya, Gaddafi responded to the biggest challenge of his four decades in power with ruthless force. New York-based Human Rights Watch said security forces had shot dead at least 170 people, mostly in eastern coastal city of Benghazi. At least 20 were killed overnight after the security forces fired heavy weapons at civilians from a fortified compound.

The situation there was confused as the Libyan government has restricted media access and communications have been patchy.

From conflicting accounts given over poor phone lines, it appeared the streets were under the control of protesters while security forces had pulled back to the compound, known as the Command Centre, from where they shot at people.

One witness said many police and soldiers had joined the protesters.

"Right now, the only military presence in Benghazi is confined to the Command Centre Complex in the city. The rest of the city is liberated," said another witness.

Local government offices and police stations had been torched, the witnesses said. As on previous days, thousands of people gathered near the northern Benghazi courthouse on Sunday chanting: "We want to bring down the regime...Allahu Akbar!"

Benghazi and the surrounding area have been the focus of the Libyan unrest. But posts on social network sites, which could not be verified, referred to minor clashes in the capital Tripoli and of overnight gunfire in Nalut to the west.

Nonetheless, Libya watchers said an Egyptian-style nationwide revolt was unlikely as regional grievances were a factor in the unrest.

Gaddafi traditionally has less support in the east but is respected by many Libyans despite the absence of Western-style democracy. And Libya's oil wealth allows him to spread largesse to smooth over social problems.

PRINCE AND PROTESTERS

Gaddafi has long been reviled by Western governments, although commercial ties have helped to improve relations in recent years. But elsewhere in the Middle East, the unrest is unnerving regimes long seen as buttresses of stability against militant Islamists or anti-Western nationalists.

In Bahrain, Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, of the ruling Sunni Muslim dynasty made conciliatory noises after the violence in which six people died.

"All political parties in the country deserve a voice at the table," he told CNN before talks with the opposition.

"I think there is a lot of anger, a lot of sadness...We are terribly sorry and this is a terrible tragedy for our nation," said the prince, who is seen as a reformist.

Thousands of Bahrainis set up a tent city in Manama's Pearl Square and the opposition was expected to put its demands to the crown prince on Sunday, calling for a constitutional monarchy and a directly elected government.

"I came here to prove we are united," said May Hadi, a 27-year-old Sunni woman who said she was a treasury dealer. "Bahrain television is trying to show we are divided. We are not. They are trying to prove it is a Shi'ite revolution. We are asking for freedom in this country."

Speculation was growing that Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa -- ensconced in office since independence from Britain in 1971 -- will be replaced by the crown prince, who has pushed aside for now the hawks in the royal court and is emerging as a leading player among the ruling elite,

On the crown prince's orders, troops and armoured vehicles withdrew from Pearl Square on Saturday, which they had occupied since Thursday after a night attack by police on protesters.

On Saturday, the crown prince suggested the unrest was provoked by lack of action on demands by Shi'ites who make up 70 percent of the population.

He told Al Arabiya television there might be a feeling that some basic demands had not been met. "We want to correct this situation and prevent its repetition."

Shi'ites have long complained of unfair treatment in access to state jobs and housing in Bahrain, a close ally of the United States, whose Fifth Fleet is based there and projects U.S. military power in the Middle East and Central Asia.

Oil giant Saudi Arabia, just across a causeway from Bahrain, fears unrest may spread to its own Shi'ite minority, said it was following developments in Bahrain and hoped for the return of peace and stability.

In Tunisia on Sunday, security forces fired into the air as tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered downtown to call for the replacement of the interim government -- a sign that problems are not all swept away with the removal of a dictator.

Following weeks of relative calm, as many as 30,000 marchers gathered in front of the prime minister's building shouting slogans such as "We don't want the friends of Ben Ali!."

In Yemen, supporters of President Ali Abdullah Saleh tried to break up a demonstration in Sanaa by opponents of the government and shots were fired as unrest in the country entered its ninth straight day.

At least 2,000 protesters gathered in a square in Morocco's capital on Sunday to demand that King Mohammed give up some of his powers and clamp down on government corruption.

(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Angus MacSwan; editing by David Stamp)