(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Bahrain's largest Shiite opposition group Wefaq said on Sunday it planned to pull out of a national dialogue set up by the government, which aims to heal divisions and offer reforms after mass pro-democracy protests rocked the Persian Gulf island kingdom earlier this year.
"The Wefaq board decided to pull out of the so-called National Consensus Dialogue and submitted its decision to the Wefaq Shura council (upper council) for ratification. The Wefaq team will not attend today's (dialogue) session," Khalil al-Marzouq, spokesman for Wefaq, told Reuters.
Wefaq had complained for weeks the opposition had been given too small a fraction of seats -- 35 out of 300 -- and was overpowered by pro-government representatives. The government says it distributed seats in a way that was representative of Bahraini society.
In a popular revolution, tens of thousands of Bahraini protesters have been holding peaceful anti-regime rallies throughout the country since February, demanding an end to the rule of the family.
Al Khalifa has governed the oil-rich island for over 40 years with major backing from the United States, Britain and the neighboring Saudi Arabia.
Scores of people have been killed and many more arrested and tortured in prisons as part of the clampdown in the country -- a longtime US ally and home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet.
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