Project on Middle East Democracy

Project on Middle East Democracy
The POMED Wire


Bahrain: Shiite Cleric’s Citizenship Revoked, Tensions Build

September 21st, 2010 by Jason

Michael Collin Dunn passes along the news that two Shiite clerics have had their citizenship revoked over the past several days. Yasser al-Habib, a Kuwaiti-born cleric who currently lives in London had his citizen revoked for insulting the Prophet Muhammad’s wife, Aisha. In Bahrain, Ayatollah Sheikh Hussein al-Najati, a representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, had his passport canceled. Many interpreted this as a move by the Sunni monarchy of Bahrain to contain growing unrest amongst the Shiite majority. Brian Murphy, writing for the Associated Press, says “The move is seen as stern warning…” before next month’s parliamentary elections, adding that the cleric’s exile is the latest in a series of government actions: “More than 250 Shiites have been detained since mid-August and Bahrain has accused 23 political activists and others of plotting to overthrow the government. Last week, Bahrain closed the semi-independent Human Rights Society and replaced the board with people chosen by the leadership.”

King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has, in the past, been seen as a reformer, but as POMED’s Stephen McInerney puts it,  “‘The reputation that King Hamad enjoyed of trying to make a more democratic country has slowly reversed in the last four or five years.’”


Posted in Bahrain, Civil Society, Elections, Freedom, Human Rights, Kuwait |

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