Bahraini opposition group suspended for three months

By Farishta Saeed MANAMA (Reuters) - Bahrain has suspended the activities of the country's main opposition group, Al Wefaq, for three months, a court ruling showed on Tuesday, ahead of a November parliamentary election which the group has already pledged to boycott. The reported move appeared to be the result of a court case brought by the government in July against the organisation, arguing it had broken the law and its own statutes. Al Wefaq said two weeks ago it would not take part in the November 22 poll because the elected parliament would not have enough power and because voting districts favoured the Gulf Arab kingdom's ruling Sunni minority. But it still condemned the suspension as "irrational and irresponsible". In a statement in English it said the government appeared to be "moving to destroy political and social life by blocking the people out." There was no immediate comment from Bahraini authorities. Al Wefaq, which has strong links to Bahrain's Shi'ite majority, won 18 out of 40 parliamentary seats in a 2010 election, but pulled out of parliament a year later during a crackdown against mostly Shi'ite Muslim protesters demanding greater democracy. Since those February 2011 demonstrations, Bahrain has been shaken by low-level unrest. Stalled reconciliation talks between the al-Khalifa ruling family and the Shi'ite opposition were revived early this year but later appeared to stall following prosecutions of Al Wefaq officials on a variety of charges. AL WEFAQ SAYS RULING IS POLITICAL A copy of the court ruling sent by Al Wefaq's lawyer to Reuters said Al Wefaq was in violation of the law concerning political societies, which also says that the Justice Minister can request the High Civil Court to stop the activities of a society "for a period not exceeding three months during which it removes the reasons for the violation". It said Al Wefaq also failed to provide the Justice Ministry with documents that relate to the organisation of the group's general conferences. The court said the group's activities were being carried out in a "fog, without any legal supervision". Al Wefaq leader, Sheikh Ali Salman, described the ruling as political. He told Reuters the group was in touch with legal advisers about how to proceed. Salman said Wefaq had previously told the court that it would hold its elections again as well as its general conference, "even though we are convinced of the veracity of our previous elections and our general conference". Bahrain, an ally of fellow Sunni monarchy Saudi Arabia and home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, accuses Shi'ite Gulf power Iran of stirring up unrest and says it has made many reforms since 2011. Iran denies those charges. Shi'ite activists say members of the majority sect are subjected to systematic political and economic discrimination, a charge the government denies. (Writing by Sylvia Westall, William Maclean and Yara Bayoumy; Editing by Dominic Evans)