Thousands of Bahrainis chanted for a change of regime and a "real constitutional monarchy" in the pro-Western Gulf kingdom on Wednesday as they buried a second protester killed in clashes with police.
After the funeral, large crowds poured on to capital Manama's Pearl Square, where the atmosphere was relaxed, even festive as the police stood aside.
Demonstrators occupied the square on Tuesday with some erecting tents for the night like their counterparts on Cairo's Tahrir Square whose 18 straight days of protests brought down president Hosni Mubarak.
Placards raised aloft by the protesters in the Shiite-majority but Sunni-ruled country proclaimed: "Neither Sunnis nor Shiites, national unity," and: "Our call for a new constitution and change of regime."
"I slept here. I will sleep here today until our demands are met," said Hussein Attiyah, 29.
The interior ministry said it would allow demonstrators to stay in Pearl Square, "taking in consideration the feelings" of the people.
Interior Minister Rashed bin Abdullah al-Khalifa apologised for the deaths of the two demonstrators and announced that the police suspected of responsibility had been taken into custody pending a full investigation.
Separated by a bridge from the main island of Manama, supporters of the regime held a parade on the island of Moharraq, waving red and white flags to proclaim their support for King Hamad.
The largest Shiite opposition bloc, meanwhile, said its MPs would not end a boycott of parliament until measures are taken to establish a real constitutional monarchy with a prime minister elected by the people, not appointed by the king.
"The government should be elected by the people who would have the right to hold it accountable," said Sheikh Ali Salman, the head of the Islamic National Accord Association (INAA).
Salman said the INAA and other opposition groups were calling for a demonstration on Saturday in support of the protesters camped out in Pearl Square.
The bloc's 18 MPs walked out of the 40-member parliament on Tuesday in protest at the killing of two demonstrators in as many days.
Fadel Salman Matrouk was shot dead in front of a hospital on Tuesday where mourners gathered for the funeral of Ali Msheymah, who had died of his wounds after police dispersed a protest east of Manama the previous day.
Echoing slogans which have become popular across the Arab world following uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, mourners chanted: "the people want to overthrow the regime."
"This is your only and last chance to change the regime," read a banner carried by the protesters who flocked to Pearl Square after the funeral of Msheymah on Tuesday.
But Salman played down such calls, saying they were an immediate and "natural" response to the killing of the two demonstrators, and insisted political reform remained "the main demand".
Washington said it was "very concerned" over the violence in Bahrain, a staunch ally which hosts the US Fifth Fleet and was the scene of deadly unrest among the Shiite majority in the 1990s.
President Barack Obama's spokesman Jay Carney said the White House was closely watching developments.
"What the president believes ... is that Bahrain like all the countries in the region needs to respect the universal rights of its citizens, their right to protest, their right to have their grievances heard," he said.
Former colonial power Britain expressed concern over reports of the use of excessive force by police and called for further reforms.
"I welcome the progress that the government of Bahrain has made on political reform in the recent past, but it is essential that this process continues to meet legitimate aspirations for greater political and social freedoms," said Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt.
A 2001 referendum paved the way for the restoration of the elected parliament scapped by the authorities in 1975 but its powers are shared with an appointed upper house.
The prime minister is also still named by the king. His uncle, Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, has held the post ever since independence from Britain in 1971.
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