MANAMA: Bahraini authorities yesterday questioned the head of the main Shia opposition group over comments he made a day earlier in a religious sermon, the interior ministry and the group said.
The ministry said in a Twitter message Sheikh Ali Salman, secretary-general of the Al Wefaq Islamic Association, “incited hatred” of the government and “promoted rioting and vandalism”. The content of Salman’s remarks was not immediately available.
Wefaq said in a statement Salman was first summoned by the Criminal Investigations Department and then transferred to the Public Prosecution Office for interrogation.
The questioning came nearly two months after the kingdom, which is ruled by the Al-Khalifa dynasty, charged Salman with insulting the interior ministry.
He was the most senior opposition figure to have been charged since majority Shias began protests in 2011 to demand political reform and a greater role in running the country.
REUTERS
