U.K.: Bahrain reforms vital

LONDON - British Prime Minister David Cameron urged Bahrain's king Monday to quickly implement changes recommended in a scathing report into human-rights abuses during the Arab nation's uprising.

A special commission, authorized by Bahrain's Sunni rulers, last month outlined the harsh treatment of antigovernment protesters as state security forces tried to put down the largest of the uprisings to hit the Persian Gulf. Its 500-page report documented the use of torture, excessive force, and fast-track trials by the government.

Cameron, while meeting with King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, urged him "to deliver swiftly on the commitments he has made to implement the recommendations from the inquiry and to drive forward reform . . . engaging with the opposition as part of that process," Cameron's office said in a statement.

Sheik Ali Salman, head of Bahrain's main Shiite opposition Wefaq party, told the BBC he was prepared to open talks with Bahrain's monarch.

The brief talks at Cameron's Downing Street home had not been announced in advance, amid concern over holding a meeting with a leader whose country is accused of serious mistreatment of opposition protesters.