Bahrain’s top Shia Muslim cleric underwent surgery on Friday, activists said, after he was hospitalised following months under virtual house arrest. News of Ayatollah Isa Qassim’s fragile health has stoked tension in Bahrain as the Sunni Muslim-led monarchy pursues a crackdown on dissent by majority Shi’ites. “The leading Shia cleric was transferred this morning at 7:30 am to Ibn al-Nafees Hospital to undergo urgent surgery,” the London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) said in a statement. The decision sparked angry protests in Bahrain and drew sharp condemnation from regional Shia power Iran and statements of concern from the United States and Britain. Authorities have closed opposition political groupings, revoked dissidents’ passports and arrested suspected militants accused of being backed by its arch-foe, Shia Iran.

Source: Egypt Independent December 08, 2017 14:45 UTC