Bahrain opposition welcomes dialogue offer

[Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص]

DUBAI - Bahrain's main Shiite opposition group, the Islamic National Accord Association (Al-Wefaq), on Thursday

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Al-Wefaq says goal of dialogue needs to be lasting solution that guarantees legitimate aspirations, just demands of all Bahrainis.

 

 

welcomed an offer of dialogue from the Sunni royal family which crushed Shiite-led protests in March.

"Al-Wefaq welcomes the appeal from King Hamad for a serious, comprehensive dialogue based on the principle of national consensus," said the group which won the largest number of seats in a parliamentary election last year.

The goal of the dialogue needs to be "a lasting solution that guarantees the legitimate aspirations and just demands of the entire people of Bahrain," it said in a statement.

Shiite-majority Bahrain was rocked by a month of street protests from mid-February which the Sunni-dominated authorities crushed with the help of the military intervention of its Arab neighbours in the Gulf.

Al-Wefaq's 18 MPs in Bahrain's 40-member parliament all resigned in protest at the deadly crackdown.

King Hamad made the dialogue offer on Tuesday on the eve of the lifting of a state of emergency imposed at the time of the crackdown.

He called for "all necessary steps to prepare for a serious dialogue, comprehensive and without preconditions, adding that it should "start from July 1."

But the same day the authorities questioned four senior Al-Wefaq officials, including its leader Sheikh Ali Salman, for five hours, the party said.

 

 

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