MOSCOW, January 16 (Sputnik) — A leader of a major Shiite opposition political grouping in Bahrain has backed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in his criticism of the Bahraini monarchy, saying its attempts to switch the demographic balance by naturalizing non-Arab Sunni Muslims threatened to destabilize the country.
Fadel Abbas, General Secretary of the Unitary National Democratic Assemblage, told Sputnik Arabic on Friday that, "naturalization is not only a threat for the Bahraini authorities, but also for the people of Bahrain."
Nasrallah was immediately criticized by the Arab League for medding in Bahrain's affairs, in what Fadel Abbas said was a distortion of the truth. Instead, he accused the Al-Khalifa regime of allowing the 22-nation League and countries like the United States and Britain to influence Bahrain.
"The Arab League has lost its credibility," Abbas said, citing its "contribution" to the crises in Libya, Syria and Sudan. "If the Arab League talks about interference or intervention… we invite the Arab League to come and see the [true] foreign interference in the country," he stressed.
The opposition leader emphasized that Nasrallah had long advocated for a peaceful solution to tensions between the government and opposition in Bahrain.
Abbas's standpoint was echoed by Qassem Kasseer, a Lebanese political analyst and professor at Lebanese University, who told Sputnik Arabic that recruitment of security personnel from abroad made the situation in the country "very dangerous."
Starting with a wave of "Arab spring" revolutions in 2011, Bahrain has been gripped by Shiite uprisings against its Sunni rulers, resulting in brutal crackdowns on the opposition, arresting the leader of Bahrain's main opposition grouping al-Wifaq.
