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RELIGION

Bahrain suspends main Shiite opposition party amid crackdown

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    FILE- In this Jan. 3, 2015 file photo, a masked Bahraini anti-government protester holds a picture of jailed Shiite cleric Sheik Ali Salman, the head of the opposition al-Wefaq political association, as riot police fire tear gas canisters during clashes in Bilad Al Qadeem, Bahrain. On Tuesday, June, 14, 2016, Bahrain said it has suspended all activities by Al-Wefaq, the largest Shiite opposition political group, and frozen its assets amid a widening crackdown on dissent, five years after the country’s Arab Spring protests. A statement from the Justice and Islamic Affairs Ministry carried on the state-run Bahrain News Agency said a court made the decision to suspend Al-Wefaq to “safeguard the security of the kingdom.” (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali, File) (The Associated Press)

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    FILE- In this Jan. 18, 2012 file photo, an anti-government protester stands in front of riot police while photographing other demonstrators in Manama, Bahrain. On Tuesday, June, 14, 2016, Bahrain said it has suspended all activities by Al-Wefaq, the largest Shiite opposition political group, and frozen its assets amid a widening crackdown on dissent, five years after the country’s Arab Spring protests. A statement from the Justice and Islamic Affairs Ministry carried on the state-run Bahrain News Agency said a court made the decision to suspend Al-Wefaq to “safeguard the security of the kingdom.” (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali, File) (The Associated Press)

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    FILE- In this Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015 file photo, Nabeel Rajab, one of Bahrain's best-known human rights activists, walks toward the courthouse to attend his appeal hearing in Manama, Bahrain. A prominent activist in Bahrain has been detained by authorities after a raid on his home. The family of Nabeel Rajab and an activist group, Human Rights First, say he was taken into custody early on Monday morning.(AP Photo/Hasan Jamali, File) (The Associated Press)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Bahrain says it has suspended all activities by the tiny island kingdom's largest Shiite political group amid a widening crackdown on dissent, five years after the country's Arab Spring protests.

In a statement Tuesday on the state-run Bahrain News Agency, the Justice Ministry says it has suspended the Al-Wefaq opposition group and frozen its assets.

Officials with the party could not be immediately reached.

This comes a day after authorities detained Nabeel Rajab, a prominent activist and the president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. Zainab al-Khawaja, another prominent activist, also fled for Denmark in recent days over fears of being imprisoned again.

Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, crushed the 2011 protests with the help of troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

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