Crowds have taken to the streets in Libya, Yemen, Iran and Bahrain over the last few days demanding at the very least more representation and at the most the overthrow of leaders.

The protests, inspired by popular revolts in Tunisia and Egypt that saw veteran presidents of both countries driven out of office, have forced the authorities to react, sometimes with fatal consequences.

Thousands of anti-government protesters were on the streets of Libya's eastern city of Benghazi early on February 18, a day after "day of rage" demonstrations led to fatal skirmishes with the security forces.

In Bahrain, troops in armored vehicles were in control of the capital after police firing buckshot and teargas pushed out hundreds of protesters early on February 17 who had camped out in central Pearl Square.

It was the worst violence in the Saudi-allied Gulf island kingdom in decades and a sign of the nervousness felt by Bahrain's Sunni al-Khalifa royal family, long aware of simmering discontent among the country's majority Shi'ites.

The sectarian aspect of the violence in Bahrain, home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, could fuel discontent among the Shi'ite minority in neighboring Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter.