Ayatollah Qassem Condemns Blast in Manama

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) -  Bahrain’s Shia leader Ayatollah Sheikh Issa Qassem on Friday slammed the recent bomb blast in Al-Daih district of Manama.Addressing worshipers at the imam Sadeq (AS) Mosque, Ayatollah Qassem said whenever a bomb explosion happens, it is the mercenaries of the Al Khalifa who benefit and not the people, Sawt Al-Manama website reported.A deadly bomb attack targeting police forces went off near in Al-Daih district of the capital earlier this week.Bahrain’s main opposition groups have condemned the attack.Ayatollah Qassem said the regime exploits such incidents as a pretext to intensify its crackdown on people.He also criticized the government for neglecting the death of tens of Bahraini citizens while carrying out thorough investigations into the death of one policeman.The senior cleric further said the lack of real reforms has caused the crisis in the country to escalate.Since mid-February 2011, thousands of pro-democracy protesters have held numerous demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa royal family to step down from power.Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of others arrested in the country over the past three years./149