Bahrain revoked high-ranking Shiite cleric Ayatollah Hussein al-Najati of his citizenship for "violation" of the law, local media reported on Monday. Authorities seized the passports of Najati, his wife and three children, which had been acquired "in violation of the law on nationality," local media cited Sheikh Rashid bin Khalifa al-Khalifa, the head of immigration services for the country's interior ministry, as saying.
He was quoted in al-Wasat daily as saying the Shiite cleric, who is of Iranian origin, and his family could re-apply for Bahraini citizenship under "the legal procedures." Al-Najati is the Bahrain representative of Iraq's Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the country's most influential Shiite political cleric.
Al-Najati was born in Bahrain and studied in Iraq and Iran.
