Protests in Saudi Arabia are banned however it was the third protest this month by families and activists demanding information on the fate of people held for years on security and terrorism charges.

Two-thousand special forces and 200 police vehicles were drafted in as the Saudi Arabian authorities showed their determination to prevent the spread of unrest inspired by uprisings across the Arab world.

Meanwhile Bahrain's main opposition groups have also eased their conditions for talks to end a crisis that has drawn in neighbouring Gulf armies and raised tensions in the oil exporting region.

The groups, led by Bahrain's largest Shi'ite Muslim opposition party Wefaq, called on security forces to free all those detained, end their crackdown and ask Gulf Arab troops to leave so talks could begin.

A statement released by the party said: 'Prepare a healthy atmosphere for the start of political dialogue between the opposition and the government on a basis that can put our country on the track to real democracy and away from the abyss.'

The group originally laid out more ambitious conditions for talks set last week, including the creation of a new government not dominated by royals and the establishment of a special elected council to redraft Bahrain's constitution.

The new conditions, which also include ending sectarian rhetoric and removing forces who have surrounded a major hospital in recent days, would bring the political process back to the position it was in before the uprising began a month ago.

Bahraini police and troops moved on Wednesday last week to end weeks of protests by mainly Shi'ite demonstrators that prompted king Hamad bin Issa al–Khalifa to declare martial law and drew in troops from Bahrain's fellow Sunni-ruled neighbours.

The ferocity of the crackdown, in which troops and police fanned out across Bahrain, imposed a curfew and banned all public gatherings and marches, has stunned Bahrain's majority Shi'ites and angered the region's non-Arab Shi'ite power, Iran.

More than 60 percent of Bahrainis are Shi'ites. Most are campaigning for a constitutional monarchy, but calls by hardliners for the overthrow of the monarchy have alarmed Sunnis, who fear the unrest serves Iran, separated from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain by only a short stretch of Gulf waters.

Shi'ite Muslim power Iran, which supports Shi'ite groups in Iraq and Lebanon,

UNREST SPREADS TO SYRIAN CITY

Thousands of people protested in the Syrian city of Deraa today as a government delegation arrived to pay condolences for victims killed by security forces in demonstrations for freedom this week.

The government sought to appease popular discontent by promising to release 15 children whose arrest helped fuel the protests, the boldest challenge to the ruling elite since uprisings swept the Arab world.

The demonstration marks the third day of protests in Deraa, a main city in the strategic Hauran plateau. 

complained to the United Nations and asked other neighbours to join it in urging Saudi Arabia to withdraw.

Sunday was the first working day after a week that saw closures of schools and universities to prevent outbreaks of sectarian clashes that had become virtually a daily event.

In an effort to bring life back to normal, Bahrain's military rulers cut back by four hours on Saturday a 12 hour curfew that had been imposed on large areas of Manama.

The curfew now runs from 8pm to 4am from the Seef Mall area in Manama, through the Pearl Roundabout and the financial district to the diplomatic area.

Bahrain urged employees working in the public sector and both public and private sector schools and universities to return to work after days of closures and shortened hours.

State television also aimed to show viewers the island kingdom had returned to normalcy, airing soap operas, documentaries and montages of expatriates expressing relief at their regained sense of security in Bahrain.

Some of the larger malls have begun to reopen after days of closures and there were fewer checkpoints in the streets, though helicopters still buzz over Shi'ite areas.

However, divisions run deeper than ever after the crackdown.

Bahrainis will bury on Sunday the third of the protesters killed in the crackdown this week. The mourners at two funerals earlier this week were defiant.

Shaking their fists and shouting "down with King Hamad", thousands gathered at the burial of computer technician Ahmed Abdullah Ahsan in the Shi'ite suburb of Diah on Saturday.

Three police and four protesters were killed in Wednesday's crackdown and police

Majority of the campaigners in Bahrain are calling for a constitutional monarchy however many protesters have been killed during clashes with the military

have arrested at least nine opposition activists, including two outspoken doctors.

Bahraini security forces detained overnight the outspoken head of the country's main human rights group, Nabeel Rajab, his colleague said on Sunday, but Twitter feeds later suggested he may have been released after questioning. 

A spokesman for the Interior Ministry in Saudi Arabia could not be contacted for comment but according witnesses at least 15 people were arrested by police for demanding the freedom of their loved ones.

Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally, has escaped the mass uprisings that have rocked the Arab world but dissent has built up as unrest has spread in neighbouring Yemen, Bahrain and Oman.

Web activists had scheduled March 11 as the first day for mass protests around Saudi Arabia to demand a democratic government and a constitutional rather than absolute monarchy.

But a religious ruling banning demonstrations and a heavy police crackdown appeared to have intimidated most potential protesters.

Shi'ites have staged marches in the Eastern Province, where most of the kingdom's oil fields are located.

Saudi Arabia's minority Shi'ites complain of discrimination, saying they often struggle to get senior government jobs and benefits available to other citizens.

King Abdullah on Friday offered massive social handouts and boosted his security and religious police forces.

But in a rare televised address to the nation, he did not give concessions on political rights in a country where the public sphere is dominated by the Saudi royal family, political parties are banned and there is no elected parliament.