Kuwait to withdraw Shia cleric's citizenship

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JNN 21.09.10 – Kuwait will withdraw the citizenship of a Shia cleric whose so called derogatory remarks about a wife of the Prophet Mohammad fanned sectarian tension in the world’s No. 4 oil-exporting state, the state news agency said.

KUNA said the cabinet on Monday approved a draft decree to strip Yasser al-Habib of Kuwaiti citizenship and to prosecute him for his “shameful crimes”, a move it said was in the Gulf country’s higher interests.

Habib’s criticism of Aisha, whom Sunni Muslims revere and call the “mother of believers”, drew protests from Sunni clerics and lawmakers and threatened to cause civil strife. About one third of Kuwaitis belong to the Shiite sect of Islam.

Many Kuwaiti Shiite clerics and legislators denounced Habib’s comments, which he made in London, and said they were a threat to national unity. KUNA said the Kuwaiti government would ask Interpol to arrest Habib.

Writings about differences between the two sects and criticism of personalities belonging to them riled Kuwaitis in the past, raised fears of a developing security threat.

Bahrain 'intensifying' Shia crackdown

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Human rights activists have expressed concern about the intensifying crackdown on the Shia community in Bahrain by the Sunni-dominated government.

The activists say the crackdown on the freedom of expression is fast escalating and broadening in scope.

“There is a continuous war against all Shias who are critics of the government,” President of Bahrain Center for Human Rights Nabeel Rajab told Press TV on Tuesday.

Many of the opposition detainees were tortured and sexually assaulted, among them religious figures, he added.

The rights activists said that more websites were being blocked while an increasing number of publications were being banned on an almost daily basis.

Earlier on Sunday, the Manama government revoked the citizenship of leading Shia cleric Ayatollah Sheikh Hussein al-Najati, who represents top Iraqi cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Bahrain, and the citizenship of his family.

An outspoken critic of the government, Sheikh Abdul Jaleel al-Miqdad, has also been prohibited from leading Friday prayers.

The Bahraini government has arrested more than 250 Shias since August, accusing 23 of them of plotting a coup and provoking “violence, rioting and terrorism.”

The population of Bahrain is predominantly Shia. However, the majority group has long complained of being discriminated against by the Bahraini government in obtaining jobs and receiving services.

The Shia opposition refuses to recognize the 2002 constitution and has called for a boycott of the October 23 parliamentary elections.