Bahrain bans political groups from having links with Hizbollah

Bahrain's Justice Islamic Affairs and Endowments Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa issued an edict on Monday banning political societies from contacting or having links with the Lebanese militant group Hizbollah. The edict will be effective as per the day following its promulgation in the Official Gazette. Bahrain has stepped up efforts in the past few weeks of putting Hizbollah on the list of terror organizations similar to France, Germany and UK. Authorities have accused opposition groups namely Al Wefaq National Islamic Society of having links with Hizbollah. The society's secretary-general Shaikh Ali Salman met Hizbollah leader Sayed Hassan Nasrallah in 2010. Outspoken Bahraini MP Jassim Al Saidi in 2008 called for removal of pictures of the Hizbollah leader, which was a common sight then in administration offices of the largest hospital Salmaniya Medical Complex in the country. Hizbollah fought a 34-day war with Israel in 2006, which killed 1,200 people in Lebanon and 159 in Israel.