Bahraini riot police seen near the Pearl roundabout during clashes with anti government protesters, in Manama, Bahrain, early Thursday morning 17 February 2011. (AP)
Bahrain's top Shia cleric said on Friday a police attack on protesters which killed five people was a "massacre" and the government has shut the door to dialogue.
Sheikh Issa Qassem, seen as the most revered Shia cleric in Bahrain, spoke at a mosque in a Shia village on the northwestern edge of Bahrain, where thousands gathered for the Friday prayer.
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