MANAMA (Reuters) - Police in the island kingdom of Bahrain's Gulf attacked protesters camped in the capital Thursday, killing three, in an attempt to quell pro-democracy protests inspired similar movements across the Middle East .
"They're killing us!" one man told Reuters as tear gas fired by police and shot went to Pearl Square, in Manama, about 3 am (0000 GMT), the dispersal of some 2,000 people, including women and children, who had spent three days are in the emulation of successful protest camp in Cairo's Tahrir Square.
After seeing the protests in Tunisia and Egypt and momentum gradually oust the veteran leaders there, Bahrain, Saudi royal family allies, long aware of the simmering discontent seems to have decided to stem the ultimate challenge of his government.
The bloodshed overnight in Bahrain came as Libyans were preparing to mount a "Day of Rage" against the entrenched authoritarian leader Muammar Gaddafi.
There was little sign of early Thursday that a social media campaign to get on the streets Libyans had much of an answer in the tightly controlled nation of North Africa, where Gaddafi, like the now deposed president, Hosni Mubarak , Egypt and Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia, has ruled for decades.
Recent days have also seen problems on the streets of Yemen, Iraq and Iran, not Arabic.
Gulf leaders in the east to the Atlantic in the west have been looking at a series of measures to alleviate the economic difficulties that include increased food prices and unemployment among youth, and strengthening security.
SECTARIAN ELEMENT
A neighbor and close ally offshore oil giant Saudi Arabia, Bahrain is also a banking center and the base of the U.S. Navy. The appearance of sectarian violence in Bahrain, whose population is majority Shiite ruled by a Sunni Muslim royal house, could feed the discontent of the Shiite minority in Saudi Arabia itself.
"This is real terrorism," said Abdul Jalil Jalil, also of Bahrain Wefaq main Shiite opposition party. "Whoever made the decision to attack the protest was the aim of killing."
The demonstrations came after U.S. President Barack Obama, comments on the overthrow of Mubarak, said: "The world is changing ... If these countries are governed, we must anticipate the changes can not be behind the curve."
Authoritarian governments have reason to fear. Young people can see the lifting of satellite television on the web and you can talk about social networks difficult to control the secret police.
In Manama, the capital of an island the size of Singapore and Saudi Arabia attached by a causeway, armored vehicles patrolled after overnight violence. The protesters, whose tone had hardened after the death of two protesters on Monday and Tuesday, said that demands for constitutional reform is maintained and that some may now want the king to go.
In Pearl Plaza, abandoned tents, blankets and garbage points in the area and the smell of tear gas hung in the air.
Helicopters echoed through the city and the truck-trailer towed by the protesters abandoned cars, tires squealing on the track, because the brakes were on foot.
Bahrain's Interior Ministry said on Twitter that security forces had "cleaned round pearl" of the protesters.
King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa introduced a new constitution giving more political rights in Bahrain for a decade, but the opposition says he has not gone far enough to introduce democracy. Most of the cabinet are members of the royal family.
Gaddafi
Libya has been strictly controlled for over 40 years by Gaddafi, an army officer is now Africa's oldest leader, but the oil exporter has felt the waves of the overthrow of veteran leaders in Egypt and Tunisia.
Although some Libyans complain about unemployment, inequality and the limits of political freedoms, analysts say the government can use oil revenues to soften the most problems.
TV station Al Jazeera, and messages on Facebook, said two people were killed in protests in Al Bayda, east of Libya's second city of Benghazi. But gave no source of information and it was not possible to verify the reports.
On Wednesday, witnesses and media reports that several hundred people clashed with police and supporters of Gaddafi on Tuesday night in the city of Benghazi. State media reported there were also protests in support of Gaddafi also throughout the country.
Gaddafi says Libya is not necessary to import western democracy, as it runs on your system, the Third Universal Theory, in which citizens are subject to grassroots institutions.
Rights group Amnesty International expressed concern: "The Libyan authorities should allow peaceful protests, not trying to suppress the heavy-handed repression," he said.
In Iran, supporters and opponents of the hardline Islamic system met in Tehran on Wednesday during a funeral procession for a shot of students in a meeting two days earlier, the state broadcaster IRIB reported. Monday's demonstration in support of the people of Egypt and Tunisia, was the biggest concern since 2009.
In Iraq, three people were killed and dozens wounded in the southern city of Kut on Wednesday as protesters demanding better services fought with police and burning buildings
