"A detainee who was a sickle cell patient died Sunday morning at the detention center," an Interior Ministry statement said. He was identified as Hasan Jasem Makki, 39.

A ministry official said a prison doctor "gave him the required medicine for sickle cell," a genetic blood disorder, but Makki fell unconscious and was "immediately taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead."

Makki was arrested on March 28.

Al-Wefaq, the main opposition parliamentary bloc in the kingdom, said: "Makki died in mysterious circumstances after five days in detention."

The official Bahrain News Agency (BNA) meanwhile said Al-Wasat, the main opposition newspaper, was suspended for falsifying news about sectarian unrest and a government crackdown on protests.

"The paper has adhered to lies, falsification and plagiarism as its guiding principles for the sake of deceiving its readers through publishing fabricated stories and photos," BNA said. "It directly and deliberately poses a real threat to the kingdom's security and stability," it said.

Mansoor Al-Jamri, Al-Wasat's editor in chief, said it was not clear if its print license would be revoked.