Manama:
Thousands of jubilant protesters surged back into the symbolic heart of Bahrain on Saturday after government security forces withdrew and the monarchy called for peace after days of violent crackdowns.
It was a remarkable turn after a week of protests that had shifted by the hour between joy and fear, euphoric surges of popular uprising followed by bloody military crackdowns, as the monarchy struggled to calibrate a response to an uprising whose counterparts have toppled other governments in the region.
"All Bahrain is happy today," said Jasim al-Haiki, 24, as he cheered the crowds in the central Pearl Square, aflutter with Bahraini flags. "These are Bahrainis. They do what they say they will do!"
The shift in this tiny Persian Gulf nation, a strategic American ally, was at least a temporary victory for the main Shiite opposition bloc, which had rejected a call to negotiate from Bahrain's Sunni monarch until the authorities pulled the military off the streets.
The events here were being watched closely in neighboring Saudi Arabia, an adjacent Sunni monarchy with a restive Shiite population, and across the region, where an extraordinary few months of anti-government protests have ricocheted from northwest Africa to the Middle East.
Antigovernment demonstrations erupted again on Saturday in Libya, Algeria and Yemen, where by the end of the day, unlike Bahrain, standoffs with authoritarian governments yielded no clear advantage to either side.
In Libya, thousands of protesters demonstrated in Benghazi, the country's second-largest city, as the death toll after three days of demonstrations rose to 84, and the government moved to shut off Internet access in hopes of disabling the movement's communications.
In Algeria, hundreds of baton-wielding police officers quickly overwhelmed protesters in Algiers. In Yemen, antigovernment protesters clashed with government defenders in a hail of bottles, shoes and rocks.
The day started in much the same way in Bahrain, with the police firing tear gas and rubber bullets at crowds of protesters. Young men collapsed in the road and others ran for cover.
Then the government blinked, perhaps sensing that the only way to calm a spiral of violence that claimed more lives with each passing day was to cede the square to the protesters.
The police left, so suddenly and so completely that it took a minute for the protesters to realize they were gone and that they once again controlled Pearl Square.
By early evening, tens of thousands of people waving Bahrain flags, some dropping to the ground to pray, shouting congratulations to each other, had packed the square and the surrounding streets in bittersweet jubilation, savoring the moment with a degree of sadness for the loss of at least seven people killed during the week, disbelief that they had prevailed and absolute joy at their success.
"Of course we are happy," said Hassan al-Freidi, 53, after joking the great sea of people that kept growing into the night. "But I want to tell you: not yet. Today we're mourning and honoring our martyrs; it is about joy and mourning. But it'll only be about joy when we get our rights. And I know this day will come."
It appeared to be a victory for the protesters, although there was still no clear idea where it would all lead. The government had ceded the square before, on Wednesday, only to return with a deadly assault on Thursday. On Friday, the army opened fire on a group of about 1,000 peaceful demonstrators trying to walk into the square.
The varying responses appeared to reflect an inner turmoil within the government to grapple with a response to the uprising. The confrontation on Friday, with the Bahrain Defense Forces firing on Bahraini citizens in plain light, seemed to be the shock that forced a change in the government's approach.
On Saturday, it was Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, the son of the king and deputy commander of the military, who ordered troops to leave the square.
"I stress, once more, that our duty is to preserve security and stability, to ensure that there is no discord and that the situation does not worsen," the prince said in a statement on Bahrain's national news agency. "Join us to calm the situation, so that we can announce a day of mourning for our lost sons."
Bahrain is fractured by political tension between the royal family, which is Sunni, and the majority of the nation, which is Shiite. The Shiite community and the largest political party, Al Wafiq, have long charged discrimination in housing, employment, education and governance. When the protests started on Feb. 14, in a so-called Day of Rage modeled after events in Egypt and Tunisia, demonstrators were calling for creation of a constitutional monarchy, elected cabinet, a constitution written by the people as opposed to one that was imposed by the king.
The first day of demonstrations was met with an aggressive police response and zero tolerance. One man was killed, and the next day another man was dead. Both had been shot in the back by the police. The deaths infuriated and invigorated the opposition, and the government eased off. Crowds then swelled into Pearl Square, setting up camp beneath a towering monument with a pearl on top. But they were angry and while they employed peaceful means, they called for the end of the monarchy altogether.
Then the government returned to its hard-line approach. At 3 a.m. Thursday, the police attacked without warning as thousands slept in the square. At least five were killed, though exact figures have not been verified. At least 25 people are still missing from that night, including children.
The square had become the battle line and both sides were determined to win. Battle lines hardened Friday night. An outraged public, thousands strong, rallied outside the main hospital insisting that it would avenge the blood of those injured and marched to the square. By 2 p.m. on Saturday, groups of young men gathered at the hospital were painting flags. They were going to march, no matter that a huge cordon of police officers blocked every road to the square.
"If I die today and later because of us it becomes a constitutional monarchy, I will have died helping my children," said Fadel Abdul Ali, 31, as he helped to prepare the flags. "I am not afraid to die."
The protesters set off from the hospital grounds in fear and determination. When the approached the phalanx of the police, officers opened fire, blanketing the neighborhood with tear gas. People were trampled, and dozens ran so frantically that they lost their shoes.
And then it was over, the fight for the square.
"This is Bahrain, people are willing to be killed," said Zaki Khalifa, 37, as he watched the jubilation. "The government can't control this, and they know it. Today, the people are happy."