Bahrain strips ‘sectarian’ Shiite cleric of citizenship
Spiritual leader accused of contacting ‘enemies of the kingdom’ as Sunni-Shiite unrest continues in Gulf country
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Bahraini authorities have revoked the citizenship of the most prominent Shiite cleric in the Sunni-ruled kingdom, accusing him of sowing sectarian divisions, the interior ministry said Monday.
Sheikh Isa Qassim, considered the spiritual leader of Bahrain’s Shiite majority, was alleged to have used his position to “serve foreign interests and promote… sectarianism and violence,” the ministry said in a statement carried by the BNA state news agency.
Qassim “adopted theocracy and stressed the absolute allegiance to the clergy,” the ministry said, adding that he had been in continuous contact with “organizations and parties that are enemies of the kingdom.”
The decision follows last week’s suspension of Bahrain’s main Shiite opposition group, Al-Wefaq, whose political chief Sheikh Ali Salman is serving a nine-year jail term for inciting violence.
Home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, Bahrain has been shaken by unrest since security forces crushed the 2011 protests demanding a constitutional monarchy and an elected prime minister.
The cleric is the latest Bahraini Shiite to lose his nationality in the island-nation. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights says at least 250 people have been stripped of their Bahraini citizenship in recent years due to their alleged disloyalty to the Sunni-led kingdom.
The Times of Israel Community.