Bahrain's king seeks dialogue after another crackdown on protesters

The wide unrest in the Middle East took a more violent turn Friday US-allied governments in Yemen and Bahrain opened fire on their citizens, prompted Britain and France to a halt in arms sales to announce.

The use of live ammunition against the pro-democracy demonstrators also triggered sharp criticism of Obama, who appeals to authorities in Yemen, Bahrain and Libya to show restraint and "the rights of their people to respect." Obama later said the Bahraini king Friday night and insisted that "those responsible for violence" be held accountable.

Clashes erupted in the region Friday, Jordan to Djibouti. An eighth consecutive day of violence in Yemen claimed at least one life in the southern city of Aden, where police fired shots to break a crowd. In Libya, the death toll was reported in the dozens after four days of fighting in the coastal city of Benghazi, where security forces have also fired on demonstrators.

But the reaction of the security forces was the most brutal in tiny Bahrain, home to the U.S. 5th Fleet, where soldiers used tanks and machine guns fire on the demonstrators, wounding dozens, at least four of them critically.

Bahrain king tried to restore calm following the appointment of his son, the crown prince, to a dialogue with the anti-government protesters lead, most of them Shiite Muslims, a greater representation and other democratic reforms requirements in a country where most power is exercised by the Sunni minority.

Britain responded to the violence by the withdrawal of authorizations granted the kingdom of Bahrain, tear gas grenades, ammunition and other crowd control equipment to buy. France suspended export of security to the country.

Obama, meanwhile, named King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa of the unrest and to discuss the government's response.

In a statement, the White House said Obama "his condemnation of the violence used against peaceful demonstrators repeatedly and strongly urged the Government of Bahrain to exercise restraint and to hold those responsible for the violence accountable."

"As a longstanding partner of Bahrain, the president said the United States believes that the stability of Bahrain is dependent on respect for universal rights of the people of Bahrain, and a process of meaningful reform that meets the aspirations of all Bahrainis, "the statement said.

The United States last year provided Bahrain with about $ 21 million in military service, a significant amount of the country in relatively small size. Of that total, approximately $ 1,000,000 for counterterrorism aid, much of it for the police and army to suppress the protests in the capital of the country.

Administration officials have talked about the possible suspension of military authorizations to Bahrain, said one U.S. official. From Friday evening, however, a senior official at U.S. Central Command said it had not received notification of a suspension.

There were conflicting accounts of the clashes in Bahrain, with some witnesses saying that the military fired from helicopters and sniper nests as well as armored vehicles equipped with machine guns. Riot police then fired tear gas, witnesses said, sending victims rushing to the public of the city hospital, which was overwhelmed by the wounded and has become a new staging ground for anti-government protests.

"The APC came three or four of them, and started shooting," said Mazen Mahdi, a Bahraini photojournalist who was with the protesters. "The first one was shot in the air. But after that, but they opened fire on people."

Amid the turmoil, Bahrain Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa made an unexpected appearance on a talk show on state television Friday to appeal for calm and inviting the opposition to participate in a dialogue.

". I gave my message to people, everyone, to withdraw from the streets and calm We will all be a joint position to reach," Salman said, inviting opposition leaders to meet him Saturday for their grievances to discuss - a gesture that prompted hopes a deal could be in the works to defuse tensions. His father said in a statement that he had instructed the Crown Prince "to a dialogue with all parties and departments to start in our beloved Bahrain and without exception."

The nature of the unrest in Bahrain poses hard choices for Obama, given the sectarian voices, the fear it inspires in strategic neighbors and the fact that while most Bahreiners desire for political reform, not all advocate the end of the monarchy.

Shiite majority of Bahrain has long hair to the monarchy of the Sunni Khalifa family. But many Sunni Arab governments, particularly those in Saudi Arabia and Jordan have warned for years that Bahrain was the first link in Iran are in a "Shiite crescent" sparks through the Persian Gulf, to the heart of the Middle East and ends in Lebanon, where Hezbollah is a proxy of Iran.