DOHA
Bahrain's Foreign Ministry on Monday declared visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Tom Malinowski, a "persona non grata".
In a statement, the ministry accused Malinowski of interfering in the country's affairs, asking the American diplomat to leave the country immediately.
The Bahraini move came one day after the U.S. diplomat met with the secretary-general of the Shia Al Wefaq National Islamic Society as well as a group of other opposition figures, according to a statement from the society.
Al Wefaq said in a statement on Sunday that its secretary-general and some of its leaders held talks with Malinowski on the political crisis in Bahrain on the background of public demands for democracy.
In its Monday statement, the Bahraini Foreign Ministry said that Malinowski had met the representatives of a specific political group, neglecting other political groups in the country.
"The Kingdom of Bahrain underlines strong relations with the U.S., hoping that this event would not spoil the development of these relations in the future," the statement said, according to the official Bahraini news agency.
The agency did not, however, mention the reasons why Malinowski was visiting Bahrain.
The U.S. Department of State, for its part, said that Malinowski's visit to Bahrain aimed to support King Hamad's reform and reconciliation efforts.
"Our team is in close touch on the ground…with the government to figure out exactly what's happened here," spokesperson Jen Psaki told a news briefing on Monday.
Bahrain has been rocked by unrest since 2011, with the government blaming the Shia Al Wefaq Society for the turmoil.
By Ahmed al-Masri
http://www.aa.com.tr/en
