Bahraini Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa ordered the formation of an inter-ministerial committee to fight "abuses from mosques, newspapers or Internet sites against national values, the king, the crown prince, national unity, sectarianism and Bahrain’s Arab identity," the UAE-based daily Gulf News reported.
"The media, particularly newspapers, should refrain from publishing any material that could threaten national unity… Imams should focus on providing religious guidance… and should avoid engaging in divisive and controversial issues," Al Khalifa said.
The decision to set up the committee – which would comprise representatives from the ministries of information, Islamic affairs and interior – comes at the peak of a Sunni-Shi’ite conflict in the tiny Gulf kingdom.
Last Thursday The Media Line reported that Al-Wifaq National Islamic Society (WNIS), Bahrain’s leading Shi’ite movement, launched a rally calling for national unity in the face of growing discontent from the Shi’ite minority.
The rally was arranged following mounting sectarian rift between Bahrain’s Sunni and Shi’ite citizens.
During last week, Bahrain witnessed a bitter standoff between supporters of Sheikh ‘Issa Qasim, the Shi’ite leader of WNIS, and Jasim A-Sa’idi, a Sunni imam and a former MP.
A-Sa’idi fiercely attacked Qasim for the latter’s claim that Shi’ite citizens, who were detained last December for suspicion of acts of sabotage, had been tortured by the Bahraini security forces.
Qasim’s statement was "irresponsible, irrational and ignorant," A-Sa’idi said.
The conflict between the two was given a lot of publicity in the local media, which had taken sides according to their leanings.
In an attempt to halt the escalating situation, the WNIS stated in its web site that Thursday’s rally called on all Bahrainis to "prevent the country from being dragged into the sectarian strife swamp."
Last December The Media Line interviewed Dr. ‘Abd Al-Jalil Al-Singace of the Bahraini human rights group Al-Haq. During the interview, Al-Singace said the Sunni regime was "importing tens of thousands of Sunnis from Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Yemen and Pakistan, giving them passports in order to change the demography."
Al-Singace further said it was the kingdom’s strategic objective to break even with the Sunni population compared with the Shi’ites by the year 2010.
The situation in Bahrain has calmed down in recent days after King Hamad Bin ‘Issa Al Khalifa intervened and called for appeasement, calling on the media to "act more responsibly."