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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/20/bahrain-strips-influential-shia-cleric-isa-qassim-citizenship
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| Bahrain strips influential Shia cleric of citizenship | Bahrain strips influential Shia cleric of citizenship |
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| Bahrain has stripped the spiritual leader of the kingdom’s Shia Muslim majority of his citizenship, triggering protests outside his home and angry criticism of the government over escalating repression. | |
| The move against Ayatollah Isa Qassim comes less than a week after a court ordered the closure of the island state’s main opposition group, al-Wefaq, accusing it of fomenting sectarian unrest and of having links to a foreign power – an apparent reference to Iran, which is a fierce critic of the Sunni monarchy. | |
| The BNA state news agency, citing an interior ministry statement, said that Qassim had been trying to divide Bahraini society, encourage young people to violate the constitution, and promoted a sectarian environment. | |
| “Based on that, the Bahraini citizenship had been removed from Isa Ahmed Qassim, who since he acquired Bahraini citizenship had sought to form organisations that follow foreign religious and political reference,” BNA said. The ayatollah’s official website says he was born in the kingdom in the 1940s. | |
| Related: Bahrain detains rights activist as UN official criticises repression | Related: Bahrain detains rights activist as UN official criticises repression |
| Reports quickly circulated on social media of a crowd marching outside his house in Diraz village of Diraz, west of the capital Manama. Video footage showed dozens of people chanting Shia slogans. | |
| Bahraini media last week reported that authorities have been investigating a bank account of about $10m (£6.8m) in Qassim’s name to examine where it was getting funds and how they were being spent. | Bahraini media last week reported that authorities have been investigating a bank account of about $10m (£6.8m) in Qassim’s name to examine where it was getting funds and how they were being spent. |
| The action spurred a strongly worded statement from senior clerics, including Qassim, against any attempt to meddle with the collection of a tax called khums, which is a pillar of Shia Islam. | |
| The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, (Bird) an exiled opposition group, warned that the move against Qassim 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 Shia cleric is considered...a red line for many Bahrainis,” said the director of advocacy, Sayed Ahmed al-Wadaei. | |
| Bahrain crushed a 2011 uprising by Shia Muslims and others demanding reforms and a bigger voice in the country, a close ally of neighbouring Saudi Arabia and the west which is home to the US Fifth Fleet and a new British naval base. . | |
| Bahrain has stripped dozens of people of their citizenship over the past two years, apparently in a campaign to end any opposition. Last month an appeals court increased from four to nine years a prison sentence imposed on Sheikh Ali Salman, the al-Wefaq leader. Salman was convicted in 2015 of inciting hatred and disobedience and insulting public institutions. | |
| Growing international concern about the situation was reflected last week when the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned that repression “will not eliminate people’s grievances”. The criticism was flatly rejected by the Bahraini government. | |
| In addition, an indefinite ban on gatherings in Manama has been in place since 2013. Dozens of people – including minors – have been prosecuted for participating in protests. | |
| Bahrain is at the heart of the sectarian fault-line running across the Middle East, flanked by bitter rivals Saudi Arabia on one side and Iran on the other. Iranian official media highlighted the move against Qassim by what it called the “Bahraini regime.” | |
| The Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah, which is backed by Tehran, said it “pushes the Bahraini people to difficult choices which will have severe consequences for this corrupt dictatorial regime”. It showed the Bahraini government had reached “the end of the road” in dealing with what it called a peaceful, popular movement. | |
| On Twitter, one Bahraini portrayed Qassim as an insect with a spray can labelled “sectarianism”. | |
| Britain is coming under mounting pressure to get tougher with its Gulf ally. In January the foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, called Bahrain “a country which is travelling in the right direction” and was “making significant reform”. | |
| Bird claims that the UK government’s interest in Bahrain’s human rights and promoting political dialogue has “declined precipitously” since a 2014 agreement to construct the Mina Salman naval base. It also says UK funds to improve Bahrain human rights institutions since the repression that followed the Arab spring has largely been spent on well-intentioned bodies that have proved not to be truly independent of government. |