Bahrain Mirror: Bahraini authorities have stripped the religious leader of the Shiite majority in the country, Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim of his citizenship today on Monday (June 20, 2016).

Bahrain has stripped the country's top Shiite Muslim cleric of his citizenship, state news agency BNA reported on its Twitter account on Monday, citing the interior ministry.

This decision comes days after a heavy clampdown launched by the authorities against the opposition Shiite sect followers across the kingdom; from closing down the main opposition group Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, Suspending the two Shiite religious Islamic Enlightenment (Tawiya) and Al-Risala societies, summoning of a large number of Shiite religious clerics, and most recently a heavy campaign launched by local pro-regime newspapers against Sheikh Qassim.

In a statement, the Interior Ministry said that the decision was made within the framework of "confronting the forces of sectarianism and subordination to foreign political religious leadership," claiming that the top Shiite cleric "played a key role in creating an extremist sectarian atmosphere and working to divide the society."

The Interior Ministry statement further accuses Ayatollah Qassim of serving foreign interests, encouraging sectarianism and violence in his speeches and sermons, and raising funds without a license in violation of Bahraini law.

The ministry concluded its statement by alleging that Sheikh Qassim "received the Bahraini citizenship yet didn't maintain its rights and harmed the country's high interests and behaved in a manner that contradicts with the duty of loyalty," and thus for this reason the government has agreed to revoking Sheikh Isa Qassim's nationality based on the Interior Minister's proposal.

Arabic Version