Bahraini Government Surrounds Sheikh Isa Qassim’s House

Bahraini security forces have extensively surrounded the house of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim, whose health condition is severely deteriorating.

According to officials from the country’s dissolved al-Wefaq party on Sunday, Sheikh Qassim is in immediate need of medical treatment.

Last year, Bahraini authorities dissolved the country’s main Shia opposition group, al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, as well as Islamic Enlightenment Society (Tawiya) and al-Risala Society.

Sheikh Isa Qassim, Wefaq’s spiritual leader, was stripped of his citizenship in June last year over accusations that he had used his position to serve foreign interests and promote sectarianism and violence. The cleric was handed a suspended one-year prison term and ordered to pay a fine.