Manama: Bahrain on Sunday stripped religious figure Husain Al Najati of his citizenship, saying that it had been obtained fraudulently.
"The directorate of citizenship, passports and residence discovered during a routine checkout of the status of naturalized Bahrainis, that Husain Mirza Abdul Baqi Mohammad Abdul Razzaq - known as Shaikh Husain Al Najati - as well as his wife and sons obtained the Bahraini citizenship in violation of the citizenship and passport laws," Shaikh Rashed Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, the interior ministry for citizenship, passports and residence, said.
"Their Bahrain passports have therefore been withdrawn, and should the family wish to acquire the Bahraini citizenship, they should submit applications in accordance with the laws on this regard."
Also on Sunday, religious authorities suspended Shaikh Abdul Jalil Al Miqdad, an imam in the Nuwaidrat area, 15 kilometres south of Manama, for two weeks in the first action taken against preachers who reportedly did not comply with the law.
Bahrain last month said that it wanted to reform the religious establishment and ensure that it carried "positive and moderate values" and that preachers were duly qualified to deliver sermons.
The authorities attributed the decision to suspend Al Najati to "abuses" by Al Miqdad in his sermon on Friday, threats to civil peace, blatant interference in the work of law enforcement agencies, lack of respect for judicial procedures and violation of religious discourse ethics.
