MANAMA, Feb 15: Thousands of Bahrainis demonstrated in the capital Manama on Tuesday demanding regime change in the Gulf kingdom like that in Egypt and Tunisia after two protesters were killed in clashes with police.

The protests in a country, which saw deadly unrest in the 1990s between the majority-Shiite population and the Sunni ruling family, prompted Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone to voice concern about next month’s Grand Prix which opens the new Formula One season.

“This is your only and last chance to change the regime,” read a banner carried by protesters who descended on Manama’s Pearl Roundabout, shortly after the funeral of one of the two demonstrators.

The banners and slogans of the Bahraini protesters echoed those of the demonstrators in Cairo’s Tahrir Square whose 18 straight days of protest triggered the dramatic end on Friday of Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.

Cyber activists outraged by the killing of the two protesters had called for the Manama demonstration on Facebook. MPs from Bahrain’s main Shiite opposition bloc walked out of parliament.

Protesters appeared to have turned a deaf ear to King Hamad, who addressed the nation on Tuesday expressing sorrow for the deaths and announcing a ministerial investigation.

Some protesters erected a tent, saying their sit-in will continue until their demands are met.

Demonstrators want a “contractual constitution and a peaceful transfer of power”, said MP Mohammed Mezaal, of the Shiite opposition Islamic National Accord Association whose 18 MPs walked out of the 40-member parliament.

The decision came because of “the deterioration in security and the negative and brutal way in which (authorities) dealt with the protesters, killing two of them”, said another of the bloc’s MPs, Khalil al-Marzooq.—AFP