(CNN) -- Bahrain's government and the opposition are expected to start talks Saturday in a bid to agree on reforms following months of unrest in the Gulf state.
Representatives of the main Shiite opposition group, Al Wefaq, are among more than 300 people expected to join the so-called National Dialogue initiative, called for by Bahrain's King Hamad.
The dialogue will focus on reform, with the aim of reaching a consensus on how to achieve it.
The Al Wefaq bloc said it planned to present what it sees as fair demands.
Its secretary-general told a rally of thousands Friday that the group would stick to its demands, which include the immediate release of all political prisoners and a democratic government for all.
Bahrain's majority Shiite community has long complained of discrimination by the ruling Sunni elite.
Sheikh Isa Qassim, the country's senior Shiite cleric, said in his Friday sermon that if Al Wefaq participated in the dialogue, it must make progress in supporting and putting into practice grass-roots demands.
He said the group should withdraw from such talks if it was not producing results.
The head of an independent commission appointed by King Hamad to investigate charges of human rights abuses during recent government crackdowns on pro-reform protesters vowed Thursday to carry out a fair, methodical and transparent investigation.
"Everything that has happened since the events started in February will be part of the commission," said Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni, a law professor and United Nations war crimes expert.
He pledged to follow international standards in investigating alleged abuses and praised the king for setting up the commission.
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