BBC News with David Austin

The king of Bahrain has asked the crown prince to start a national dialogue to

resolve

the political crisis there. A statement said the prince had been asked to talk to all parties. Earlier, the capital Manama was gripped by panic and chaos as thousands of anti-government protesters again clashed with the security forces. The BBC's Caroline Hawley is in Manama.

When it looked like demonstrators were moving towards Pearl Square, the security forces opened fire with live rounds we believe. And as you heard, there are dozens of people in hospital, and there are a few who are said to be in very, very serious condition. There has been a continuing protest at the hospital that has been going on for

some time

now. I was there earlier in the day, and there was an ambulance worker with bandages on his head who said he'd been beaten when he'd been trying to collect the wounded from Pearl Square.

The Libyan authorities have issued a

stark

warning to anti-government protesters, saying they'll meet a violent and

thunderous

response. Reports from Libya's second city Benghazi say tens of thousands of protesters have returned to the streets. From Tripoli, Rana Jawad has more.

It's a mass of crowds that have come out to the streets. Most of them have

converge

d in front of the courthouse in Benghazi. It's largely been peaceful there, but they say thousands upon thousands of people are in front of the courthouse. There have been other protests across the city of Benghazi. Reports are coming out that they've turned violent in an area called el-Kish. Three people have been shot dead.