Isa Ahmed Qassim has been stripped of his Bahraini citizenship, state news agency BNA said on Monday in a short message on its Twitter account.
The Bahrain Mirror, a website close to the Bahraini opposition, also said on Monday that authorities stripped Sheikh Qassim of citizenship claiming that he has been involved in spreading extremism.
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This photo shows Bahrains senior Shia cleric, Sheikh Isa Qassim, addressing a group of people in front of his house in Manama.[/caption]Bahrains Interior Ministry said in a statement that Sheikh Qassim actively sought the creation of a sectarian environment through his connections with foreign powers. The ministry claimed that the cleric had misused his religious position to advance a political agenda and serve foreign interests.
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File photo shows Bahraini protesters taking part in a demonstration in the village of Sitra, south of the capital, Manama, asking for the ruling Al Khalifah regime to relinquish power. AFP[/caption]The Interior Ministrys statement added that the senior cleric caused harm to the interests of the Bahraini kingdom or had acted contrary to the duty of loyalty to the government.
Describing as illegal donations to Sheikh Qassim by his followers in Bahrain, the statement further accused the cleric of receiving money and using it without obtaining the required legal licenses.
Bahrain Forum for Human Rights has slammed the decision to strip Sheikh Qassim of his citizenship. The rights body has also called the measure arbitrary and against international laws.
Meanwhile, Bahraini people and clerics have held a protest rally in the village of Diraz near the capital Manama outside the clerics home, condemning regime's crackdown on peaceful opposition figures.
Sheikh Qassim is Bahrains most respected Shia cleric and Shia Muslims give donations to him based on their religious principles.
Reports said the Bahraini government had issued a decree approving the move to revoke the citizenship of Sheikh Qassim.
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Protesters hold a banner depicting victims of Bahrain's anti-regime protests as they demonstrate against the candidature of Bahrain's Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifah on the sidelines of the extraordinary FIFA Congress in Zurich on February 26, 2016. AFP[/caption]The decision comes less than a week after the Bahraini Justice Ministry suspended all activities of al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, the main opposition group in the country.
Wefaqs Secretary General Sheikh Ali Salman has been in prison since December 2014.
Manama has also dissolved al-Tawiya and al-Risala Islamic associations.
Bahrain, a close ally of the US in the Persian Gulf region, has seen a wave of anti-government protests since mid-February 2011. The tiny sheikdom's heavy-handed crackdown on peaceful demonstrations with the help of Saudi Arabia has left dozens of people dead and hundreds more injured.
By Press TV
