Garbage cleared

Helicopters clattered over the city and tow-trucks dragged away cars abandoned by protesters, their tyres squealing on the Tarmac because the brakes were still on.

Army troops in beige camouflage replaced riot police at Pearl Square and Asian municipal workers cleared away garbage.

On Wednesday, the Wefaq party demanded a new constitution that would move the country toward democracy.

"We're not looking for a religious state. We're looking for a civilian democracy ... in which people are the source of power, and to do that we need a new constitution," its secretary-general Sheikh Ali Salman told a news conference.

Elsewhere in Manama, life went on as usual. In one smart area, foreigners sat in cafes or strolled in jogging clothes.

Formula One motor racing head Bernie Ecclestone said the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on March 13 may have to be called off because of the unrest. "We'll make a decision by Tuesday or Wednesday," he said.

The religious divide between Bahrain's leaders and most of their subjects has led to sporadic unrest since the 1990s, making the country more prone to unrest than other Gulf states where rulers tacitly use oil wealth to buy political submission.

King Hamad introduced a new constitution giving Bahrainis more political rights a decade ago, but the opposition says he has not gone far enough to introduce democracy. Most of the cabinet are royal family members.

The king's uncle, Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, has been prime minister since the modern state was founded in 1971. Wefaq wants him fired and replaced by an elected prime minister.

"The people demand the fall of the regime," protesters chanted at the hospital, echoing a slogan of Egyptians who ousted Mubarak last week after an 18-day revolt.