Two dead as police disperse Bahrain protest

There are reports at least two people have been killed during a Bahraini police operation to disperse demonstrators camped out in a square in the capital Manama.

The deaths come after hundreds of Bahraini police fired teargas into the crowd, witnesses said, as they tried to end three days of protests inspired by uprising in Egypt and Tunisia, Reuters reports.

Thousands of mainly Shi'ite protesters took to the streets this week demanding more say in a country where a family of Sunni Muslims rules over a population that mostly belongs to the Shi'ite sect.

Hundreds were camped out at Pearl Square, a road junction in the capital, which they sought to turn into the base of a long-running protest like that at Cairo's Tahrir Square that led to the downfall of President Hosni Mubarak.

The square appeared nearly empty of protesters early in the day and was littered with abandoned tents, blankets and rubbish.

The smell of teargas wafted through the air and two ambulances were seen rushing from the scene. There was no immediate word on casualties.

"I was there...the men were running away, but the women and kids could not run as easily, some are still inside (the square)," said Ibrahim Mattar, a parliamentarian from the main Shi'ite opposition Wefaq party, which has walked out of parliament.

The party has demanded a new constitution that would move the country toward democracy.