King restores citizenship of 551 Bahrainis

DUBAI: King Hamad has ordered that the citizenship of 551 Bahrainis revoked by courts be restored, official media said on Sunday, days after a senior UN official expressed concern about the punishment.

The king, who can reverse court decisions, requested that the competent authorities take into account "the nature of crimes committed", the Bahrain News Agency reported. The interior ministry has been instructed to examine files and prepare lists of those to be freed. Human rights groups estimate that 990 people have had their citizenship revoked since protests against the government early this decade.

Ruled for more than two centuries by the Al-Khalifa dynasty, Bahrain has a majority of Muslim population, according to unofficial estimates contested by the government. A Bahraini court on Tuesday revoked the citizenship of 138 people and jailed 139, at the end of a mass trial denounced by rights group Amnesty International.