Lebanon events by Bahrain opposition group be cancelled

The Lebanese Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Bassam Mawlawi, has instructed the security services to prevent the holding of two activities organised by a Bahraini opposition group and investigate the organisers.

In a statement, Mawlawi said he has instructed the General Directorate of the Internal Security Forces and the General Directorate of Public Security to inform the Assaha Hotel in Beirut’s Burj Al-Barajneh area to “immediately cancel” two events as no permission had been sought to host them.

The minister said the two events titled “The political rights of the Bahraini revolution” and “Bahrain in oppression and darkness” were scheduled to be held today and Monday respectively. He added that they “would offend the authorities of Bahrain and the Gulf countries” if they went ahead.

READ: Hezbollah hosts Saudi opposition conference as Lebanon-Gulf tensions ease

Mawlawi also said that his decision is in line with “the Kuwaiti initiative, under which the country pledged to abide by all measures that prevent offending, verbally or through action, brotherly Arab countries.”

In December, Wefaq Society, the main Bahraini opposition group, held a press conference in Beirut to release its annual report on human rights violations in the small Gulf state. Lebanese authorities then ordered the deportation of non-Lebanese individuals affiliated with the Wefaq Society, an organisation outlawed by Bahrain.