MANAMA, Bahrain - Thousands of anti-government demonstrators cut off Bahrain's financial center and drove back police trying to push them from the capital's central square - shaking the tiny island kingdom Sunday with the most disruptive protests since calls for more freedom erupted a month ago.
Demonstrators also clashed with security forces and government supporters on the campus of the main university in the Gulf country, the home of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.
The clashes fueled fears that Bahrain's political crisis could be stumbling toward open sectarian conflict between the ruling minority Sunnis and Shiites, who account for 70 percent of the nation's 525,000 people.
Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa said the nation has "witnessed tragic events" in the past month. But he warned that "the right to security and safety is above all else."
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A day after visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged quick progress toward reform, thousands of protesters gathered before dawn to block King Faisal Highway, a four-lane expressway leading to Bahrain's main financial district in downtown Manama. The action caused huge traffic chaos during morning rush hour.
Security forces dispersed about 350 protesters "by using tear gas," the government said. But traffic was clogged until late morning.
About two miles away, police moved in on Pearl Square, site of a monthlong occupation by members of Bahrain's Shiite majority calling for an elected government and equality.
Many protesters in recent days have pressed their demands further to call for the ouster of the Sunni dynasty that has held power for more than two centuries.
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