UAE’s decision came few days after Bahrain summoned the Lebanese ambassador to Manama over Nasrallah’s “unacceptable” statements, accusing the latter of “interfering in the internal affairs of Bahrain.”
According Emirates News Agency (WAM), the official UAE news agency, authorities described Nasrallah’s remarks as "hostile, inflammatory, hateful and unacceptable" and "a blatant interference in Bahrain’s internal affairs."
UAE Assistant Foreign Minister Tariq Ahmed al-Hidan said "the UAE holds the Lebanese government fully responsible for these statements," urging the Lebanese government "to make sure no similar comments are made in the future."
In a speech on Friday, Nasrallah criticized the Bahraini authorities for detaining Sheikh Ali Salman, head of al-Wefaq opposition movement, and accused the al-Khalifa ruling family of “systematic naturalization of foreigners” in a bid to alter demographic balance in its favor.
The Bahraini regime described Nasrallah’s statements as “completely incompatible with the nature of the fraternal relations” between Lebanon and Bahrain, adding that “they harm mutual cooperation between both countries in various fields.”
Salman was arrested on December 28, a day after he, among other figures, led a peaceful rally near the capital Manama staged to protest against November’s general elections, which the opposition boycotted, and call for the dismissal of both the parliament and the government.
Salman was accused of "insulting the judiciary and the executive branch,” "sectarian incitement,” "spreading false news likely to cause panic and undermine security," and "participation in events detrimental to the economy.”
Nasrallah said Bahraini protesters continue peacefully to demand the creation of a democratic constitutional monarchy, yet “the regime continues to violently crack down on all dissent.”
With Saudi Arabia’s help, Bahrain, a country ruled by the al-Khalifa family for over 200 years, crushed peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations that began on February 14, 2011.
“The people of Bahrain are calling for rights, and legitimate rights that no one can deny,” Nasrallah said, criticizing the regime for retaining all powers — executive, legislative and judicial, in addition to security, information and wealth.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf neighbors sent troops into Bahrain in March 2011, reinforcing a crackdown that led to accusations of serious human rights violations.
Besides the Arab and foreign military presence in Bahrain, military cooperation with Western countries is very common in the oil-rich kingdom.
Britain said on December 5 it had sealed a deal to open a new military base in Bahrain, its first permanent base in the Middle East since it formally withdrew from the Gulf in 1971, drawing concern from Bahraini opposition groups.
Washington is also a long-standing ally of the ruling al-Khalifa dynasty and Bahrain is home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
At least 89 people are estimated to have been killed and hundreds have been arrested and tried since peaceful protests erupted.
Political activists have been prosecuted by Bahraini authorities for attempting to voice out and expose gross human rights violations by the ruling family.
Countries worldwide denounced Salman’s arrest and over 37 international human rights organizations demanded in a statement his immediate and unconditional release following his arrest.
Salman “is known to be a political and national figure that has always called for dialogue and peaceful procedures as clearly stated in The Non-Violence Principles Declaration," the statement read. "He also calls for the peaceful transfer of power according to what international treaties stipulate.”
In Geneva, the United Nations human right office said it was concerned a potentially lengthy prison sentence could be handed down to Salman.
"Opposition parties are fundamental pillars of any democracy, and Salman’s arrest risks intensifying the fraught political scene that has seen anti-government protests for nearly four years," a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement.
Nasrallah also accused Bahrain’s ruling family of seeking to change Bahrain’s demographic balance by "executing a Zionist-like project" that includes "offering citizenship” to Sunni-Muslim foreigners and “stripping native Bahraini Shias from their nationality.”
According to information Al-Akhbar received in 2014, Bahraini authorities have granted tens of thousands of people, with certain characteristics and from designated countries, Bahraini citizenship, in an attempt to create a new sectarian majority, which would deny Bahrain’s Shia majority their representation in the state’s institutions.
Dozens of Bahrainis have had their citizenship revoked and several have also been deported since Bahrain adopted the Bahraini Citizenship Law last year stipulating that suspects convicted of "terrorist" acts could be stripped of their nationality.
“The Bahraini authorities are running out of arguments to justify repression. They are now resorting to extreme measures such as jail sentences and revoking nationality to quell dissent in the country, rather than allowing people to peacefully express their views,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa deputy director.
“Arbitrarily depriving these Bahrainis of their nationality and forcing them out of Bahrain renders them ‘stateless’ and goes contrary to Bahrain’s international obligations,” Sahraoui said.
(Al-Akhbar)
