MANAMA- Bahrain's main Shi'ite opposition bloc has rejected a royal call for dialogue to end unrest that has cost the lives of six anti-government protesters, a Shi'ite ex-lawmaker said on Saturday. "Nobody is willing to sit with officials if the military is killing people," Ibrahim Mattar, a member of the Wefaq bloc which quit parliament on Thursday, told Reuters. "We don't feel there is a serious will for dialogue because the military is in the streets and people are not allowed to protest." King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa offered a national dialogue with all parties on Friday to try to end the turmoil in which six people have been killed and hundreds wounded since Monday. Activists called for an open-ended strike from Sunday and the closure of all public and private schools on a Facebook page called the "February 14 revolution in Bahrain". Riot police broke up a protest camp on Pearl Square, a traffic circle in Manama, on Thursday, killing four people and wounding 231. Two people were killed earlier in the week. Soldiers in tanks and armoured vehicles later took control of the square and fired on protesters nearby on Friday. A senior medical official said more than 60 people were treated in hospital. The European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement released overnight she was deeply concerned about new reports on violence by the security forces. "I urge the Bahraini authorities to respect fundamental human rights including freedom of expression and the right toassemble freely," she said, urging all parties to use restraint. The "February 14 revolution" youth group set its own conditions for dialogue, saying troops must withdraw and protesters be allowed back into Pearl Square. It also demanded the release of all political prisoners and word on the fate of missing people, as well as the resignations of the defence and interior ministers and the security chief. Turmoil has rocked Bahrain since demonstrators, mostly from the 70 per cent Shi'ite majority, took to the streets to demand more say in the tiny Sunni-ruled Gulf Arab island. Shi'ites feel cut out of decision-making and complain of discrimination in access to state jobs and housing. US President Barack Obama spoke to King Hamad on Friday, mcondemning the violence and urging the government to mshow restraint and respect the rights of its people.
