BAHRAIN: U.N. leader condemns violence; opposition officials call for regime change

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U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on the leaders of Bahrain not to use violence against civilians and journalists.

Ban Ki-moon said he was disturbed by the violent methods being used to disperse demonstrators, according to Reuters.

‘The Arab regimes need to properly respond to the legitimate aspirations of their people,’ he said. ‘If they make promises, they need to keep them. The Arab people in the streets have been feeling largely neglected.’

Meanwhile, the Bahraini opposition has called for the government to resign following the deadly police raid on anti-regime protesters in Manama, the head of a Shiite opposition block told the Al Jazeera network.

Bahrain’s mainly Shiite Al-Wefaq opposition movement said it would resign from parliament in protest against the police crackdown, according to Bloomberg. ‘The opposition groups, including Al-Wefaq, have issued a statement demanding the government resign and calling for the formation of a new government to investigate this crime,’ Al-Wefaq leader Ali Salman told Al Jazeera on Thursday.

-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske