Bahrain summons head of al-Wefaq for questioning

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry has summoned, Sheikh Ali Salman, the head of the country’s main opposition group, al-Wefaq, for questioning.

Sources inside the Interior Ministry revealed the summons, but they have not given any specific reason for the move.

On Saturday, al-Wefaq National Islamic Society also confirmed the summons, saying in a statement that “it is believed to be part of the political blackmail and revenge against the peaceful opposition that is asking for democracy.”

This came after Bahraini regime forces stormed and shut down an exhibition, dubbed the revolution museum, which was opened by al-Wefaq on Wednesday.

The party says it plans to lodge a complaint with the United Nations over the regime’s raid on the exhibition, which had been organized in an effort to portray the Manama regime’s brutal clampdown on peaceful protests.

In September, al-Wefaq’s deputy leader, Khalil al-Marzouq, was arrested on charges of “inciting protests” against the ruling Al Khalifa family.

Al-Wefaq condemned the act by Bahraini authorities in a statement, calling it “a clear attack on political activism in Bahrain.”

In mid-February 2011, Bahrain was rocked by mass protests demanding political reforms and a constitutional monarchy. But the regime’s brutal crackdown on protesters soon prompted an outright call for the ouster of the Al Khalifa family.

Scores have been killed, many of them under torture while in custody, and thousands more detained since the popular uprising began in the Persian Gulf kingdom.

Physicians for Human Rights says doctors and nurses have been detained, tortured, or disappeared because they have “evidence of atrocities committed by the authorities, security forces, and riot police” in the crackdown on anti-regime protesters.