Manama: A vociferous lawmaker who has often waded into controversy with his peers and state officials said that he would not be running for a third term this autumn.
"I would like to retire and devote myself to religious causes. I have had my share of parliamentary action and would rather now focus on working on religious matters, but as a private citizen," Mohammad Khalid, representing the Islamic Menbar, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, said.
The MP said that the decision to quit the parliament was taken without pressure from any sources, denying claims that Al Menbar had informed him that he would be replaced.
"It was my decision and there was no interference from whosoever. I will continue to serve Al Menbar, but from a different angle," he said.
Reports circulating in Bahrain said that Mohammad Khalid, known as Bu Ammar, would not be allowed to represent the society as a result of his numerous standoffs with officials in the country and his aggressive stance towards Saudi Arabia that caused them embarrassment.
The MP last year led a movement to exert pressure on the Saudi authorities to free Bahraini Islamists held in Saudi Arabia on security-related charges. One of the detainees was a former Guantanamo prisoner who was released by the US following several public demonstrations and rallies in which Mohammad Khalid, played a major role. The Bahraini detainees have repeatedly claimed their innocence.
According to the reports, Al Menbar wanted to distance itself from Mohammad Khalid for his outbursts against Riyadh and altercations with public figures.
Last August, Saudi authorities banned the MP from entering the country. "I was travelling with my family via the King Fahad Causeway, but the Saudis made wait for about one hour at the border before they told me that I could not enter their country. I demanded to know, particularly that I was an MP and had a special passport, but I could not get an answer," he said.
Mohammad Khalid has often blasted the Bush administration for its policies in Iraq and with the Palestinians and played an active role in the rallies against Denmark following the publication of the controversial cartoons by a Danish newspaper.
Bahrain is set to hold the next parliamentary elections in the autumn.
