MANAMA, BAHRAIN - Anti-government protesters streamed back into Bahrain's Pearl Square roundabout Saturday to continue their push for political reforms after tanks and armored personnel carriers rumbled out of the capital following an order by the crown prince for the military to withdraw. 
 
 Police at first fired tear gas at the protesters as they approached the site they were forcibly expelled from just three days ago, witnesses said, but then security forces pulled back to allow the demonstrators to reach the roundabout, located in the financial district of the capital, Manama. 
 
 Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, who has been assigned to try to broker a dialogue with the country's mostly Shiite-led opposition, appears to hope that by halting the heavy-handed tactics employed by security services over the past few days, he can create an opening for discussion of the protesters' grievances. 
 
 In a statement released Saturday, the crown prince appealed to all political factions to join hands and "begin a new phase" in which "we will discuss all our issues sincerely and honestly." 
 
 The statement represented a "180-degree change of policy," said Jassim Hussain, a member of the leading Shiite political party, al-Wefaq, which withdrew its 18 members from the 40-seat parliament after a deadly crackdown on demonstrators Thursday. 
 
 The party has still not decided whether to sit down with the crown prince. "Al-Wefaq made a decree that they need the right environment before any serious dialogue can start. I'm sure this kind of environment will help," Hussain said. But he added, referring to the broader opposition movement: "We still have people who are not in the mood to talk." 
 
 The disunity within the opposition over its ultimate goals and the protesters' passionate determination to continue demonstrating have left the outcome of this uprising uncertain and even the short-term outlook hard to predict. 
 
 The Bahraini military's retreat came after a violent turn of events in the Middle East on Friday, as U.S.-allied governments in Yemen and Bahrain opened fire on their citizens, prompting Britain and France to announce a halt in arms sales. 
 
 The use of live ammunition against pro-democracy demonstrators also triggered sharp criticism from President Obama, who called on authorities in Yemen, Bahrain and Libya to show restraint and "respect the rights of their people." Obama later spoke to the Bahraini king Friday night and urged that "those responsible for the violence" be held accountable. 
 
 Clashes erupted across the region Friday, from Jordan to Djibouti. An eighth straight day of violence in Yemen claimed at least one life in the southern city of Aden, where police fired gunshots to break up a crowd. In Libya, the death toll was reported to be in the dozens after four days of clashes in the coastal city of Benghazi, where security forces have also fired on protesters. 
 
 But the response from security forces was most heavy-handed in tiny Bahrain, home to the U.S. 5th Fleet, where soldiers used armored personnel carriers and machine guns to fire on protesters, wounding dozens, at least four of them critically. 
 
 Bahrain's king tried to restore calm by appointing his son, the crown prince, to lead a dialogue with anti-government demonstrators, most of them Shiite Muslims, who are demanding greater representation and other democratic reforms in a country where most power is wielded by the Sunni minority. ||||| Security forces in Libya and Yemen fired on pro-democracy demonstrators Saturday as the two hard-line regimes struck back against the wave of protests that has already toppled autocrats in Egypt and Tunisia. At least 15 died when police shot into crowds of mourners in Libya's second-largest city, a hospital official said. 
 
 Bahraini protesters hold up flowers toward riot police near the Pearl roundabout after the military pulled out in Manama, Bahrain, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011. The deputy chief of Bahrain's armed forces... (Associated Press) 
 
 Bahraini protesters celebrates at the Pearl roundabout soon after the military pulled out in Manama, Bahrain, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011. The deputy chief of Bahrain's armed forces has ordered the military... (Associated Press) 
 
 A masked anti-government demonstrator seen during clashes with Yemeni government supporters, unseen, in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011. Hundreds of Yemenis began demonstrating early in the morning... (Associated Press) 
 
 A wounded anti-government demonstrator is helped by other demonstrators after being hit by a stone thrown by Yemeni government supporters during clashes in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011. Hundreds... (Associated Press) 
 
 Riot police pull out as Bahraini protesters rush to celebrate at the Pearl roundabout in Manama, Bahrain, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011. The deputy chief of Bahrain's armed forces has ordered the military to... (Associated Press) 
 
 Bahraini protesters celebrates at the Pearl roundabout after the military pulled out in Manama, Bahrain, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011. The deputy chief of Bahrain's armed forces has ordered the military to... (Associated Press) 
 
 Bahraini protesters remove barbed wire near the Pearl roundabout after the military pulled out in Manama, Bahrain, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011. The deputy chief of Bahrain's armed forces has ordered the military... (Associated Press) 
 
 Yemeni anti-government demonstrators shout slogans during a demonstration demanding the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011.Hundreds of Yemenis began... (Associated Press) 
 
 Supporters of the Yemeni government shout at anti government demonstrators, not pictured, in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011. Hundreds of Yemenis began demonstrating early in the morning Saturday... (Associated Press) 
 
 Anti-government demonstrators display the traditional head scarf of a wounded demonstrator during clashes with Yemeni government supporters in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011. Hundreds of Yemenis... (Associated Press) 
 
 Even as Bahrain's king bowed to international pressure and withdrew tanks to allow demonstrators to retake a symbolic square in the capital, Libya's Moammar Gadhafi and Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh made clear they plan to stamp out opposition and not be dragged down by the reform movements that have grown in nations from Algeria to Djibouti to Jordan. 
 
 Libyans returned to the street for a fifth straight day of protests against Gadhafi, the most serious uprising in his 42-year reign, despite estimates by human rights groups of 84 deaths in the North African country _ with 35 on Friday alone. 
 
 Saturday's deaths, which would push the overall toll to 99, occurred when snipers fired on thousands of mourners in Benghazi, a focal point of unrest, as they attended the funerals of other protesters, a hospital official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. 
 
 "Many of the dead and the injured are relatives of doctors here," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "They are crying and I keep telling them to please stand up and help us." 
 
 Earlier, special forces had attacked hundreds of demonstrators, including lawyers and judges, who were camped out in front of a courthouse in Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city. 
 
 Authorities also cut off the Internet across Libya, further isolating the country. Just after 2 a.m. local time in Libya, the U.S.-based Arbor Networks security company detected a total cessation of online traffic. Protesters confirmed they could not get online. 
 
 Reports could not be independently confirmed. Information is tightly controlled in Libya, where journalists cannot work freely, and activists this week have posted videos on the Internet that have been an important source of images of the revolt. Other information about the protests has come from opposition activists in exile. 
 
 A female protester in Tripoli, the capital city to the west, said it was much harder to demonstrate there. Police were out in force and Gadhafi was greeted rapturously when he drove through town in a motorcade on Thursday. 
 
 Throughout the Middle East, protesters for weeks have been crying out against a similar litany of injustices: repressive governments, corrupt officials and pathetic wages among them. Government responses seem to be hardening. While there was violence during the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, the government retaliation in Yemen and Libya in particular appeared to be more sustained. 
 
 In Yemen's capital of Sanaa, riot police opened fire on thousands of protesters, killing one anti-government demonstrator and injuring five others on a 10th day of revolt against Saleh, a key U.S. ally in fighting al-Qaida. 
 
 As on other days earlier this week, protesters marching from Sanaa's university were met by police and government supporters with clubs and knives who engaged in a stone-throwing battle with the demonstrators. At one point, police fired in the air to disperse the march. 
 
 A medical official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said one man was shot in the neck and killed, raising the total death toll from Yemen protests to seven. 
 
 In a meeting with civic leaders, Saleh said Yemenis have the right to express themselves peacefully and the perpetrators of the unrest were trying to seize power by fomenting instability. 
 
 "The homeland is facing a foreign plot that threatens its future," Saleh said, without elaborating. 
 
 Saleh, who has been in power for three decades, has tried to blunt discontent by promising not to seek re-election when his term ends in 2013. 
 
 But he is facing a restless population, with threats from al-Qaida militants who want to oust him, a southern secessionist movement and a sporadic armed rebellion in the north. To try to quell new outbursts of dissent, Saleh also has reached out to tribal chiefs, who are a major base of support for him. So far, however, that has not changed the response in the streets. 
 
 In the tiny island nation of Bahrain, thousands of joyful protesters streamed back into the capital's central Pearl Square after the armed forces withdrew from the streets following two straight days of a bloody crackdown. 
 
 The royal family, which was quick to use force earlier this week against demonstrators in the landmark square that has been the heart of the anti-government demonstrations, appeared to back away from further confrontation following international pressure. 
 
 President Barack Obama discussed the situation with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, asking him to hold those responsible for the violence accountable. He said in a statement that Bahrain must respect the "universal rights" of its people and embrace "meaningful reform." 
 
 In a telephone call to the crown prince, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he welcomed the government's military withdrawal and strongly supported efforts to initiate a dialogue. 
 
 The demonstrators have emulated protesters in Tunisia and Egypt by attempting to bring political change to the government in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet _ the centerpiece of Washington's efforts to confront Iranian military influence in the region. 
 
 Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, deputy supreme commander of the armed forces, appealed for calm and political dialogue in a brief address on state TV. 
 
 As night fell, though, defiant protesters in Pearl Square erected barriers, wired a sound system, set up a makeshift medical tent and deployed lookouts to warn of approaching security forces. 
 
 Protesters took over the square earlier in the week, setting up a camp with tents and placards, but they were driven out by riot police in a deadly assault Thursday that killed five people and injured more than 200. The government then clamped down on Manama by sending the tanks and other armored vehicles into the streets around the square, putting up barbed wire and establishing checkpoints to deter gatherings. 
 
 On Friday, army units shot at marchers streaming toward the square. More than 50 people were injured. 
 
 Some of the protesters were wary of Bahrain's leaders, despite the military withdrawal. 
 
 "Of course we don't trust them," said Ahmed al-Shaik, a 23-year-old civil servant. "They will probably attack more and more, but we have no fear now." 
 
 The cries against the king and his inner circle reflected a sharp escalation of the political uprising, which began with calls to weaken the Sunni monarchy's power and address claims of discrimination against the Shiite majority. 
 
 Algerian police, meanwhile, thwarted a rally by thousands of pro-democracy supporters, breaking up the crowd into isolated groups to keep them from marching. 
 
 Police brandishing clubs, but no firearms, weaved their way through the crowd in central Algiers, banging their shields, tackling some protesters and keeping traffic flowing through the planned march route. 
 
 A demonstrating lawmaker was hospitalized after suffering a head wound when he fell after police kicked and hit him, colleagues said. 
 
 The gathering, organized by the Coordination for Democratic Change in Algeria, comes a week after a similar protest, which organizers said brought an estimated 10,000 people and up to 26,000 riot police onto the streets of Algiers. Algeria has also been hit by numerous strikes over the past month. 
 
 President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has promised to lift the state of emergency, which has been in place since early 1992 to combat a budding insurgency by Islamist extremists. The insurgency, which continues sporadically, has killed an estimated 200,000 people. 
 
 Bouteflika has warned, however, that a long-standing ban on protests in Algiers would remain in place, even once the state of emergency is lifted. 
 
 Algeria does have many of the ingredients for a popular revolt. It is riddled with corruption and has never successfully grappled with its soaring jobless rate among youth _ estimated by some to be up to 42 percent _ despite its oil and gas wealth. 
 
 "The people are for change, but peacefully," said sociologist Nasser Djebbi. "We have paid a high price." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Ahmed al-Haj in Sanaa, Yemen; Hadeel al-Shalchi and Barbara Surk in Manama, Bahrain; Elaine Ganley in Algiers, Algeria, and John Affleck in Cairo contributed to this report. ||||| Army patrols and tanks locked down the capital of this tiny Gulf kingdom after riot police swinging clubs and firing tear gas smashed into demonstrators, many of them sleeping, in a pre-dawn assault Thursday that uprooted their protest camp demanding political change. Medical officials said four people were killed. 
 
 Bahraini women wait outside a hospital in Manama, Bahrain, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011, where victims of the confrontation between anti-government protestors and riot police were being treated. Armed patrols... (Associated Press) 
 
 Bahraini riot police seen near the Pearl roundabout during clashes with anti government protesters, in Manama, Bahrain, early Thursday morning, Feb. 17, 2011. Some protesters appeared unbowed as armed... (Associated Press) 
 
 A Bahraini anti-government demonstrator burn and stamp on a picture of the Bahraini king Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa outside Salmaniya hospital in Manama, Bahrain, early Thursday morning, Feb. 17, 2011.... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this image from video riot police firing tear gas and wielding clubs storm Pearl Square occupied by anti-government protesters before dawn Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011 driving out demonstrators and destroying... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this image from video armored personnel carriers roll towards Pearl Square occupied by anti-government protesters Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011. Riot police firing tear gas and wielding clubs stormed a... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this image from video riot police cars line the road along Pearl Square before dawn Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011 after driving out demonstrators and destroying a makeshift encampment that had become the... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this image from video riot police firing tear gas and wielding clubs storm Pearl Square occupied by anti-government protesters before dawn Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011 driving out demonstrators and destroying... (Associated Press) 
 
 Anti-government demonstrators run away after being attacked by Bahraini riot police officers at the Pearl roundabout in Manama, Bahrain, early Thursday morning, Feb. 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali) (Associated Press) 
 
 Bahraini women wait outside a hospital in Manama, Bahrain, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011, where victims of the confrontation between anti-government protestors and riot police were being treated. Armed patrols... (Associated Press) 
 
 Bahraini women cry outside a hospital in Manama, Bahrain, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011, where victims of the confrontation between anti-government protestors and riot police were being treated. Armed patrols... (Associated Press) 
 
 A Bahraini anti-government demonstrator burns a picture of the late Bahraini Emir Sheikh Issa Bin Salman Al Khalifa outside Salmaniya hospital in Manama, Bahrain, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Hassan... (Associated Press) 
 
 A Bahraini anti-government demonstrator shows tear gas canisters fired by riot police attacking campers at the Pearl roundabout, in Manama, Bahrain, early Thursday morning, Feb. 17, 2011. Riot police... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this image from video a large number of armoured personel carriers roll towards Pearl Square occupied by anti-government protesters Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011. Riot police firing tear gas and wielding... (Associated Press) 
 
 Map locates Benghazi, Libya, where there are protests to ouster the government (Associated Press) 
 
 Hours after the attack on Manama's main Pearl Square, the military announced on state TV that it had "key parts" of the capital under its control and that gatherings were banned. 
 
 The developments marked a major crackdown by the island nation's rulers to put an end to days of protests inspired by Egypt's revolt against Hosni Mubarak. Tiny Bahrain is a pillar of Washington's military framework in the region. It hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, which is a critical counterbalance to Iran's efforts to expand its clout in the region. 
 
 The capital Manama was effectively shut down Thursday. For the first time, tanks and military checkpoints were deployed in the streets and army patrols circulated. The Interior Ministry warned Bahrainis to stay off the streets. Banks and other key institutions did not open, and workers stayed home, unable or to afraid to pass through checkpoints to get to their jobs. 
 
 Barbed wire and police cars with flashing blue lights encircled Pearl Square, the site of anti-government rallies since Monday. Police cleaned up flattened protest tents and trampled banners inside the square, littered with broken glass, tear gas canisters and debris. A body covered in a white sheet lay in a pool of blood on the side of a road about 20 yards (meters) from the landmark square. 
 
 Demonstrators had been camping out for days around the square's 300-foot (90-meter) monument featuring a giant pearl, making it the nerve center of the first anti-government protests to reach the Arab Gulf since the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. 
 
 The protesters' demands have two main objectives: force the ruling Sunni monarchy to give up its control over top government posts and all critical decisions, and address deep grievances held by the country's majority Shiites who claim they face systematic discrimination and are effectively blocked from key roles in public service and the military. 
 
 But among Bahrain's rulers, the prospect of a prolonged crisis raised fears of a potential flashpoint between Iran and its Arab rivals in the Gulf. Bahrain's ruling Sunni dynasty is closely allied to Saudi Arabia and the other Arab regimes in the Gulf. Shiite hard-liners in Iran have often expressed kinship and support for Bahrain's Shiite majority, which accounts for 70 percent of the island's 500,000 citizens. 
 
 The police assault came early Thursday with little warning. Mahmoud Mansouri, a protester, said police surrounded the camp and then quickly moved in. 
 
 "We yelled, 'We are peaceful! Peaceful!' The women and children were attacked just like the rest of us," he said. "They moved in as soon as the media left us. They knew what they're doing." 
 
 Dr. Sadek Al-Ikri, 44, said he was tending to sick protesters at a makeshift medical tent in the square when the police stormed in. He said he was tied up and severely beaten, then thrown on a bus with others. 
 
 "They were beating me so hard I could no longer see. There was so much blood running from my head," he said. "I was yelling, 'I'm a doctor. I'm a doctor.' But they didn't stop." 
 
 He said the police beating him spoke Urdu, the main language of Pakistan. A pillar of the protest demands is to end the Sunni regime's practice of giving citizenship to other Sunnis from around the region to try to offset the demographic strength of Shiites. Many of the new Bahrainis are given security posts. 
 
 Al-Ikri said he and others on the bus were left on a highway overpass, but the beatings didn't stop. Eventually, the doctor said he fainted but could hear another police official say in Arabic: "Stop beating him. He's dead. We should just leave him here." 
 
 Bahrain's parliament _ minus opposition lawmakers who are staging a boycott _ met in emergency session. One pro-government member, Jamila Salman, broke into tears. 
 
 A leader of the Shiite opposition Abdul Jalil Khalil said 18 parliament members also have resigned to protest the killings. 
 
 As the crackdown began, demonstrators in the square described police swarming in through a cloud of eye-stinging tear gas. 
 
 "They attacked our tents, beating us with batons," said Jafar Jafar, 17. "The police were lined up at the bridge overhead. They were shooting tear gas from the bridge." 
 
 Many families were separated in the chaos. An Associated Press photographer saw police rounding up lost children and taking them into vehicles. 
 
 Hussein Abbas, 22, was awakened by a missed call on his cell phone from his wife, presumably trying to warn him about reports that police were preparing to move in. 
 
 "Then all of a sudden the square was filled with tear gas clouds. Our women were screaming. ... What kind of ruler does this to his people? There were women and children with us!" 
 
 ABC News said its correspondent, Miguel Marquez, was caught in the crowd and beaten by men with billy clubs, although he was not badly injured. 
 
 Hospital officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, said four people were killed early Thursday. Wounded streamed by the dozens into Salmaniya medical center, the main state-run hospital in Manama, with serious gaping wounds, broken bones and respiratory problems from the tear gas. 
 
 Outside the medical complex, dozens of protesters chanted: "The regime must go." 
 
 Tanks and armored personnel carriers were seen on some streets _ the first sign of military involvement in the crisis _ and authorities send a text message to cell phones that said: "The Ministry of the Interior warns all citizens and residents not to leave the house due to potential conflict in all areas of Bahrain." 
 
 Hours before police moved in, the mood in the makeshift tent city was festive and confident. 
 
 People sipped tea, ate donated food and smoked apple- and grape-flavored tobacco from water pipes. The men and women mainly sat separately _ the women a sea of black in their traditional dress. Some youths wore the red-and-white Bahraini flag as a cape. 
 
 While the protests began as a cry for the country's Sunni monarchy to loosen its grip, the uprising's demands have steadily grown bolder. Many protesters called for the government to provide more jobs and better housing, free all political detainees and abolish the system that offers Bahraini citizenship to Sunnis from around the Middle East. 
 
 Increasingly, protesters also chanted slogans to wipe away the entire ruling dynasty that has led Bahrain for more than 200 years and is firmly backed by the Sunni sheiks and monarchs across the Gulf. 
 
 Although Bahrain is sandwiched between OPEC heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Qatar, it has limited oil resources and depends heavily on its role as a regional financial hub and playground for Saudis, who can drive over a causeway to enjoy Bahrain's Western-style bars, hotels and beaches. 
 
 Social networking websites had been abuzz Wednesday with calls to press ahead with the protests. They were matched by insults from presumed government backers who called the demonstrators traitors and agents of Iran. 
 
 The protest movement's next move is unclear, but the island nation has been rocked by street battles as recently as last summer. A wave of arrests of perceived Shiite dissidents touched off weeks of rioting and demonstrations. 
 
 Before the attack on the square, protesters had called for major rallies after Friday prayers. The reported deaths, however, could become a fresh rallying point. Thousands of mourners had turned out for the funeral processions of two other people killed in the protests earlier in the week. 
 
 After prayers Wednesday evening, a Shiite imam in the square had urged Bahrain's youth not to back down. 
 
 "This square is a trust in your hands and so will you whittle away this trust or keep fast?" the imam said. "So be careful and be concerned for your country and remember that the regime will try to rip this country from your hand but if we must leave it in coffins then so be it!" 
 
 Across the city, government supporters in a caravan of cars waved national flags and displayed portraits of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. 
 
 "Come join us!" they yelled into markets and along busy streets. "Show your loyalty." 
 
 Thousands of mourners turned out Wednesday for the funeral procession of 31-year-old Fadhel al-Matrook, one of two people killed Monday in the protests. Later, in Pearl Square, his father Salman pleaded with protesters not to give up. 
 
 "He is not only my son. He is the son of Bahrain, the son of this nation," he yelled. "His blood shouldn't be wasted." 
 
 Monday's bloodshed brought embarrassing rebukes from allies such as Britain and the United States. A statement from Bahrain's Interior Ministry said suspects have been "placed in custody" in connection with the two deaths but gave no further details. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Brian Murphy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
– Bahrain protesters reclaimed their symbolic Pearl Square today, after the nation's leaders ordered the military to withdraw in a key concession that came just a day after a brutal crackdown that injured at least 50 and drew a sharp condemnation from President Obama. Members of the opposition chanted, "We are victorious," as they poured into the square carrying flags and flowers. Bahrain's king is signaling that he's open to talks with the opposition, reports the Washington Post, appointing his son, Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al Khalifa, as point man. The crown prince appeared briefly on state TV, reports the AP, to urge talks and calm.