video transcript

ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION) STORY: Tens of thousands of anti government protesters marched on Budaiya highway on the western outskirts on Manama on Friday (February 15). The mass rally which was authorized under the title of "no to dictatorship" was being held as part of a series of rallies and protests being held on daily basis from February 1 and February 16. Bahrain has seen almost daily demonstrations in the run-up to the anniversary of the revolt, which has put the kingdom on the front line of a region-wide tussle for influence between Shi'ite Muslim Iran and Sunni Arab states such as Saudi Arabia. Mass protests that erupted in February 2011 at the height of the Arab Spring were crushed, but small demonstrations demanding greater rights for Bahrain's Shi'ite majority and an end to the absolute power of the Sunni ruling family have continued.