Bahrain Moves to Dissolve Major Opposition Group<br />The group, the National Democratic Action Society, or Waad, was accused by the ministry of "serious violations targeting the principle of respecting the rule of law, supporting terrorism<br />and sanctioning violence." The secular organization called the move an attempt to stamp out dissent and vowed to fight the ministry in court.<br />By REUTERSMARCH 6, 2017<br />DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Bahrain’s justice ministry has filed a lawsuit intended to dissolve a major opposition group<br />that it accuses of supporting terrorism, the state-run Bahrain News Agency reported on Monday.<br />Bahrain, where the American Navy’s Fifth Fleet is based, has been a political flash point since the Arab Spring protests of 2011<br />led by the nation’s Shiite majority were put down by the Sunni-led government with the help of other Persian Gulf Arab states.<br />The crackdown entered a new phase last year when the authorities banned the main Shiite Muslim opposition group, Al Wefaq,<br />and revoked the citizenship of the country’s top Shiite cleric.<br />Al Wefaq won 18 out of 40 seats in elections in 2010, but pulled out of Parliament a year later during the Arab Spring crackdown.<br />A government advisory body passed a constitutional amendment on Sunday authorizing<br />military trials of civilians suspected of attacking security forces.
