MANAMA: Bahraini authorities have stripped high-ranking Shiite cleric Ayatollah Hussein Mirza Najati of his citizenship for "violation" of the law, local media reported on Monday.
The move comes amid heightened tension in the Shiite-dominated kingdom sparked when 23 Shiite activists were rounded up earlier this month and charged with forming a "terror network" aimed at bringing down the Sunni-dominated government.
Authorities seized the passports of Ayatollah Najati, his wife and three children, which had been acquired "in violation of the law on nationality," local media cited Sheikh Rashid bin Khalifa al-Khalifa, the head of immigration services for the country’s interior ministry, as saying.
He did not elaborate on the nature of the violations, but was quoted in Al-Wasat daily as saying the Shiite cleric, who is of Iranian origin, and his family could re-apply for Bahraini citizenship under "the legal procedures."
Ayatollah Najati is "the principle representative in Bahrain of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani," the highest-ranking Shiite cleric in Iraq, Sistani’s office in Iraq said.
Amnesty International has accused the authorities in Bahrain of an intensifying "clampdown… on Shiite opposition and human rights activists in the run-up" to October 23 parliamentary elections.
