Manama: The Islamic Action Society, the second largest Shiite political and religious formation in Bahrain, has denied claims it was working on a deal with Al Wefaq, the country's largest society.

The deal was rumoured to be to secure seats in the forthcoming parliamentary and municipal elections.

"We have heard rumours that our society is striking a deal with Al Wefaq so that we support them in the parliamentary elections while they back us up in the municipal polls," said Mohammad Al Mahfoodh, the secretary general of the Islamic Action Society.

"That is simply not true. In fact, we have not yet decided whether we will be taking part in the elections. The fact that we have not announced our final stance does not necessarily that we are manoeuvering with Al Wefaq to reach an accord."

Al Mahfoodh's denial was a blow to claims that the two Shiite societies were able to overcome past divergences and were getting closer to forming a strong front.

The Islamic Action Society expressed bitter disappointment in 2006 that there was no mutual support with Al Wefaq, which had refused to give up any "secure" constituencies and went on to win 17 of the 40 seats in the lower chamber.

However, Al Wefaq's landslide victory came under fire from allies who blamed the society's leaders for not offering them the chance to share the spoils and help them enter parliament.

Hopes that the situation would change and that Al Wefaq would give the Islamic Action Society an opportunity in the 2010 elections slated for this autumn seem to have been shattered by Al Mahfood's denial of co-operation.

Earlier this month, the two main Sunni societies, Al Asala, the flagship of Salafis in Bahrain, and the Islamic Menbar, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, said they were again co-ordinating their stances to ensure a higher number of seats than the 15 they have together at the lower chamber.

The two societies worked out a deal in 2006 and initial doubts this year that they would not co-operate this time were dismissed by their leaders who said that they had agreed on a general framework and that their committees would work out the finer details.

Liberals have been talking about co-operation and co-ordination in an attempt to break the hegemony of Islamists on the lower chamber. However, no accord has yet been struck.