The Bahraini government, meanwhile, reported progress toward
starting a dialogue with the opposition after thousands of protesters took to
the streets last week to demand an elected government in the kingdom.
Hassan Mushaimaa, the London-based leader of the Haq
movement, had said on his Facebook page that he would fly home last Tuesday to
see whether Bahrain's leadership was serious about dialogue with its opponents
or would arrest him.
A Lebanese official said authorities had blocked Mushaimaa
from boarding a flight to Manama because his name was on an international
arrest warrant. A Lebanese judicial source said Mushaimaa's passport had been
seized, but he was not in custody.
"The Bahraini government has distributed his name to
borders in the Arab world," Abbas Al-Amran, a friend of Mushaimaa, told
Reuters. "He will not let himself be arrested. He wants to take a plane
and come to Bahrain as an ordinary citizen."
Mushaimaa is among 25 people charged last year over an
alleged coup plot and was being tried in absentia. But the government freed the
other defendants on Tuesday as one of several gestures to try to defuse
anti-government protests that at their height drew tens of thousands.
A statement by King Hamad bin Isa on Monday hinted the trial
would be shelved, which would let Mushaimaa return unhindered. Lebanese
authorities were checking with Bahraini authorities on whether to let him fly to
Manama, the Lebanese official said.
Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad has offered dialogue
with the opposition. "Talks with representatives of Bahrain society and
the crown prince continue and positive progress is being made towards the
commencement of the national dialogue," a government statement said.
The opposition Al-Wefaq party, however, said there had been
"no progress at all". Former Wefaq lawmaker Ibrahim Mattar said his
party wanted a clear commitment to a constitutional monarchy before coming to
the table.
