Bahrain Police Break Up May Day Demo

Police in Sunni Muslim-ruled Bahrain fired tear gas on Wednesday to disperse demonstrators demanding the reinstatement of Shiites sacked from their jobs during pro-democracy protests two years ago, witnesses said.

Dozens of people came out onto the streets in Shiite villages around Manama on the occasion of May Day shouting: "We want those people sacked to be reinstated."

The Wednesday protests were organized by the radical February 14 Revolution Youth Commission through social networking sites.

Union sources said most of the people sacked during the Arab Spring-inspired movement that broke out in February 2011 had been reinstated, but 450 of them are still unemployed.

Shiite-majority Bahrain is ruled by a Sunni dynasty, and protests have been aimed at giving Shiites a greater say in the small Gulf kingdom's affairs.