Bahrain protesters vowed on Wednesday not to budge from Pearl Square, epicentre of anti-regime demonstrations, despite the release of leading Shiite opposition activists and renewed calls by the king for talks.
"Even if they put the gun in my mouth and order me to leave, I will not," said Sabah Abadi, a retired municipal employee who sat in a tent with his son and friends in the square.
"I'm here day and night."
A day after a massive protest clogged the main roads of Manama, the predominantly Shiite demonstrators again crowded into Pearl Square, chanting: "We are brothers, Sunnis and Shiites. We shall not abandon this country."
"We shall never be humiliated," shouted one woman, evoking a traditional Shiite slogan that blared out of megaphones across the square.
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The protesters, who have relentlessly hit the streets on a daily basis since February 14, have renamed Pearl Square "Martyrs' Roundabout" to honour the victims of a deadly police raid on Thursday.
"Our most important demand is that the killers be put on trial," said Omran Baba, 27, who is unemployed. "That was criminal."
"Even if we die, that won't be a problem," added Zuhair Hassan, 29, who abandoned his job as a driver and joined the sit-in.
"I am fighting for the sake of my homeland."
Security forces have been ordered to stay away from protesters, many of whom are demanding the end of the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty, which has ruled the tiny kingdom for some 200 years.
Embattled King Hamad, who was in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, has renewed an appeal for dialogue, as 23 Shiite activists were released from prison following a royal pardon.
The king said the decision to free the prisoners came in response to pleas voiced during a mass pro-government rally on Monday.
The royal pardon also includes Freedom Islamic Movement secretary general Said al-Shihabi, who lives in London along with Hassan Mashaima, leader of the opposition Haq movement. The two were being tried in absentia.
Mashaima had been expected to return to Manama on Tuesday but did not.
Haq is a radical Shiite group that refused to end its boycott of elections, unlike the Islamic National Accord Association, the country's main Shiite group which took part in a 2006 vote and holds 18 of the 40 parliamentary seats.
The bloc quit parliament in protest at Thursday's killings.
Official opposition groups have stopped short of demanding the fall of the regime, instead requesting the resignation of the government, the implementation of reforms and the creation of a "real constitutional monarchy."
The opposition has also demanded an "impartial" probe to identify those behind the killing of seven protesters so far by police and has requested the formation of a "national salvation" government.
On Wednesday, seven opposition groups, including INAA, issued a statement urging demonstrators to "continue to express their demands in a pacific and civilised manner" while demanding that the authorities "protect protesters".
The statement said dialogue with the state needs "to be built on clear foundations," adding that "none of these foundations were mentioned in the crown prince's invitation to dialogue."
It also made it clear that opposition groups were "keen on reaching a large consensus on a common view between political associations and different youth formations taking part in the protest at Pearl Square."
It also said the opposition was willing to meet political associations that support the government but recently called for "essential reforms to the political system," naming Sheikh Abdullatif al-Mahmud from the newly formed National Unity Assembly.
The opposition alliance brings INAA and Haq together with four other political associations, including leftists, liberals and Arab nationalists.
Meanwhile, leading Shiite clerics have called for more demonstrations on Friday to "mourn the martyrs," urging protesters to again march to Pearl Square.
Gulf powerhouse Saudi Arabia has thrown its weight behind its tiny neighbour and rejected foreign "meddling" in Bahraini internal affairs.
The United States, which headquarters its Fifth Fleet in Manama, has commended the move by Bahraini officials to start dialogue.
Washington had previously condemned the use of violence by its ally Bahrain against anti-regime protesters.
