“An external plot has been fomented for 20 to 30 years until the ground was ripe for subversive designs... I here announce the failure of the plot,” King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa was quoted as telling troops in a report by state news agency BNA.

Had the plot succeeded, he said, it could have spilled into neighboring states.

The king declared a three-month emergency rule and invited armies of the Gulf countries to help restore order in Bahrain.

King praised the Saudi-led force and said “Bahrain is bigger and stronger today than ever.” “I here announce the failure of the fomented subversive plot against security and stability,” the king said. The king spoke to the commander of the Saudi-led force and said its troops give Bahrain strength and confidence.

The Bahrain opposition’s main demand is for a constitutional monarchy that would keep the royal family in power but would let people elect a government.

“We don’t want Iranians to come. We don’t want a big problem in this small country,” senior opposition leader Ali Salman said Sunday, adding that the solution to the country’s crisis has to come from its people according to the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, in another development, a Bahraini protester was found dead after he went missing for days following a crackdown by security forces on demonstrators last week, a member of an opposition group said on Monday.

The protester, Jawwad Al-Shamlan, disappeared after he left the Pearl roundabout where anti-government rallies took place earlier this month, said Mattar Ibrahim Mattar, a member of Wefaq.

Al-Shamlan was later found dead with gunshot wounds to his stomach, Mattar said.

Mattar said 95 people were missing since the crackdown, and only 20 of them had been arrested by the security forces. He blamed the authorities for the disappearances.