(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Bahrain's liberal opposition Monday hinted it may quit reconciliation talks just days after the discriminate-ruled country's key Shiite opposition group, al-Wefaq, decided to withdraw.
On Sunday, al-Wefaq's central committee adopted a recommendation to withdraw from the talks.
They added that the talks would be hard to carry out amid the continued detention of political activists, an "aggressive sectarian media campaign," and failure to reinstate those who had been sacked from their jobs for allegedly taking part in pro-reform protests.
Government and "national dialogue" officials were quick to assert that despite the decision, the talks would continue.
On Sunday Sweden's foreign minister Carl Bildt described al-Wefaq's withdrawal as "worrying".
"A dialogue that is not truly national will just be a monologue," he said in a post on the social networking site, Twitter.
The "national dialogue" was suggested by Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, as a way to discuss reform amid a security and political crisis that has been gripping the Persian Gulf island since protests broke out in February.
The recommendations from the month-long meetings will be presented to the monarch for review.
At least 40 people have been killed during government crackdowns on protesters, activists say.
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