BANI JAMRA, Bahrain, 14 July 2003 — Bahrain’s leading Shiite imam returned home Saturday after undergoing more than a year of medical treatment abroad.
Abdul-Ameer Al-Jamri, 64, arrived from Saudi Arabia where he was transferred to from Germany in January for further treatment related to multiple strokes, kidney and heart ailments. “He (Al-Jamri) has suffered a lot in his life and his return is very symbolic for all the people here,” Mansoor Al-Jamri, one the scholar’s seven sons, said.
Shiites are a slight majority of this Gulf state’s 400,000 citizens.
Despite his unannounced homecoming, at least 200 well-wishers, including some two dozen leading Shiite scholars, gathered outside his village home. Cheering women covered head-to-toe in black chadors showered the crowd with sweets and money. “We have been praying for his health and safe return home and God has answered our prayers,” said Isa Qassim, a scholar.
Al-Jamri is widely regarded as the spiritual leader of Bahrain’s Shiite opposition, which waged a campaign for political reform during the 1990s.
The father of 10 flew to Germany in May, 2002, for spinal surgery. He later suffered a stroke and developed kidney problems and a blood infection before lapsing into a coma. After regaining consciousness, he developed internal bleeding followed by another stroke. He had a heart bypass operation in 2000. On Jan. 27, he was admitted to a hospital in Saudi Arabia.
