Bahrain: No arrest planned for opposition leader

[February 24, 2011]  MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) -- A government spokeswoman says a prominent opposition leader will not be arrested if he returns to Bahrain, but it remains unclear whether he is free to travel.

The spokeswoman, Maysoon Sabkar, said Thursday that authorities have no plans to take Hassan Meshaima into custody in he returns from self-exile. But security officials in Lebanon say they have confiscated Meshaima's passport on an Interpol warrant. It is unclear whether Bahrain will take steps to lift it. Meshaima arrived in Beirut on Tuesday en route to Bahrain, where protests by the Shiite majority against the Gulf kingdom's Sunni rulers broke out last week. Sabkar says that the government has a declared Friday a day of mourning for seven demonstrators killed in clashes with security forces. [Associated Press] Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.