Bahrain King: Opposition in Bahrain is not a united bloc

Bahrain King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa said last year's events were regrettable, although he downplayed the severity of the threat the protests had posed to the 200-year-old-rule of the Sunni dynasty.            

The king says that a massive opposition movement does not really exist in the country.           

"I regret the events of the past year," he told the German weekly Der Spiegel in an interview that was published Sunday. "But there is no opposition in Bahrain, not in the sense of a united bloc. Such a thing is not in our constitution. There are just people with different views, and that is good."            

Shiites account for about 70 percent of Bahrain's population of some 525,000 people, but say they have faced decades of discrimination such as being blocked from top political and security posts.           

Bahrain's Sunni rulers promised reforms, although they refused to make the far-reaching changes the protesters and the main Shiite group, Al Wefaq, have demanded. These include ending the monarchy's ability to select the government and set all-important state policies.         

AP