Bahrain Asks Opposition Over Talks
MANAMA: Bahrain has charged the country’s most senior opposition leader and one of his aides with holding an illegal meeting with a U.S. diplomat, the public prosecutor’s office said Thursday.
It said Al-Wefaq party leader Sheikh Ali Salman and his political assistant, Khalil al-Marzouq, should have obtained permission before meeting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and LaborTom Malinowski.
Bahrain expelled Malinowski earlier this week, saying he had “intervened flagrantly” in the country’s internal affairs by holding the meeting. The United States has said it is “deeply concerned” about his treatment and is considering a response.
The incident has opened a rift between Washington and one of its main regional allies. Bahrain hosts the headquarters of the U.S. 5th Fleet but has bristled at American criticism over its human rights record since suppressing a popular uprising in 2011.................
