Bahrain strips top Muslim cleric of citizenship

DUBAI: Bahrain has stripped the spiritual leader of the Gulf kingdom’s Muslim majority of his citizenship, state news agency BNA reported on Monday, prompting protests by thousands outside his home and warnings of unrest.

The move against Ayatollah Isa Qassim comes less than a week after a court ordered Bahrain’s main opposition al-Wefaq group closed, accusing it of fomenting sectarian unrest and of having links to a foreign power - an apparent reference to regional power Iran.

Bahrain in 2011 crushed an uprising demanding reforms that would give them a bigger voice in governing the Muslim-ruled country, where the US Fifth Fleet is based as a bulwark against Iran.

But discontent still smoulders on the streets of Bahrain, where a financial crisis caused by lower oil prices has caused a slowdown in the economy.

BNA, quoting an Interior Ministry statement, said Qassim had been trying to divide Bahraini society, encourage youths to violate the constitution and promote a sectarian environment in the country.

"Based on that, the Bahraini citizenship had been dropped from Isa Ahmed Qassim, who since he acquired Bahraini citizenship had sought to form organisations that follow foreign religious and political reference," BNA said.

Qassim’s official website says he was born in a village in the kingdom in the 1940s, when the island state was still under British rule.

Witnesses said a crowd estimated at 3,000-4,000 people outside Qassim’s house in the village of Diraz, west of the capital Manama, chanting slogans.

"With our soul, with our blood we sacrifice ourselves for you, Hussein!" they chanted, invoking the name of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Imam Hussein, who is revered by Muslims.

Social media footage showed Qassim standing outside what looked like his home saluting the crowds.

Dozens of police vehicles were seen surrounding Diraz, the witnesses said, but there were no reports of clashes.

The powerful Lebanese group Hizbullah called Bahrain’s decision "extremely dangerous" and warned it would bring severe consequences to the ruling system.

"The authorities, with their stupidity and recklessness, are pushing the Bahraini people to difficult choices, which will have severe consequences for this corrupt dictatorial regime," Hizbullah said in a statement.

Bahrain earlier accused the Iran-backed Hizbullah of supporting militants behind a spate of bombings in the country and has designated the group a terrorist organisation.

The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy said the withdrawal of Qassim’s citizenship would stoke unrest.

"We are deeply concerned that these actions will escalate tensions on the streets and may even lead to violence, as targeting the country’s leading cleric is considered to be a red line for many Bahrainis," Sayed Ahmed al-Wadaei, the institute’s director of advocacy, said in a statement.

Bahraini media last week reported that authorities have been investigating a bank account of some $10 million in Qassim’s name to examine where it was getting funds and how they were being spent.

The move spurred a strongly worded statement from top clerics, including Qassim, against any attempt to meddle with the collection of a Muslim tax called Khums, which is a pillar of Islam.

Bahrain has stripped more than 250 people of their citizenship over the past two years, apparently in a campaign to stifle any political opposition, and banished many of them.