Bahrain opposition demands end to royal domination of power

[Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص]

MANAMA - The leader of Bahrain's mainstream Shiite opposition has called for an end to the stranglehold on

Looks forward to the day when any Bahraini, Sunni or Shiite, can become PM

Sheikh Salman says power 'monopolised by a single family' in Bahrain 'unacceptable'.

power of the Gulf state's Sunni royal family, just days before a tense parliamentary election.

"It is unacceptable that power be monopolised by a single family, even one to which we owe respect and consideration," the head of the Islamic National Accord Association, Sheikh Ali Salman, said late on Wednesday.

Despite reforms that came into force in 2002 aimed at ending deadly unrest among the island's Shiite majority, the ruling Khalifa family has held onto the premiership and other key levers of power ever since independence from Britain in 1971.

"We look forward to the day where any child of the people, be they Sunni or Shiite can become prime minister," Salman told a mass rally in a suburb of the capital Manama.

The pro-Western kingdom, which is home to the US Fifth Fleet, goes to the polls on Saturday for an election which has been overshadowed by a crackdown by the authorities on Shiite activists who have campaigned for more deep-rooted reform.

A total of 23 Shiite opposition figures go on trial -- two in absentia -- next week charged with terrorism offences and plotting to overthrow the regime.

London-based watchdog Amnesty International said earlier this month that the Sunni-dominated government had detained a total of 250 Shiite activists in the run-up to polling day.

Unlike the radical groups which continue to boycott Bahrain's electoral process, Sheikh Salman's grouping insists it is determined to work within the system. It holds 17 of the 40 seats in the outgoing parliament and is contesting 18 this weekend.

"We are not defying anyone's authority. It's a political goal that we are working to achieve through legal and political means," Sheikh Salman said.

But he cautioned: "It could take years."