MANAMA — Bahrain's crown prince met the Shi'ite Muslim opposition leader on Wednesday in search of a way out of a three-year political deadlock, a week after reconciliation talks were suspended in a setback for efforts to stabilize the U.S.-allied Gulf state.
The breakdown in the reconciliation process raised jitters in the tiny Gulf Arab island monarchy in the middle of a regional tussle for influence between Shi'ite Iran and Sunni Muslim powerhouse Saudi Arabia.
The meeting between Crown Prince Salman al-Khalifa and opposition chief Sheikh Ali Salman was the first since shortly after major unrest among majority Shi'ites demanding democratic reforms and a bigger say in government broke out in early 2011.
"The meeting was especially frank and very transparent," the Shi'ite opposition bloc al Wefaq said in a statement signed by the five main parties in it.