DUBAI: Authorities in Bahrain on Wednesday expelled the representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani.

Sheikh Hussein Al-Najati was among 31 Bahrainis who had their citizenship revoked in November 2012 over accusations that they had undermined state security, more than a year after authorities crushed a Shiite uprising in March 2011.

Najati “practised unclear activities, without coordinating with authorities which discovered afterwards that he was Sistani’s representative,” the Interior Ministry said.

“Working as an official representative of any party necessitates a letter of accreditation that specifies responsibilities and planned activities,” it said.

Najati worked on “collecting funds and distributing them” in the name of the Iraq-based Sistani, one of the top Shiite spiritual guides, the ministry added.

Najati was born in 1960 to Iranian parents in Bahrain, it said.

He arrived on Wednesday in Lebanon, according to Bahrain’s Shiite Al-Wefaq opposition association.