Bahrain backs off on closure of opposition groups

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The Associated Press

MANAMA, Bahrain — Bahrain's government appears to be pulling back from plans to dismantle main Shiite opposition parties after criticism from Washington and other allies.

Relatives grieve for Bahraini Shiite Muslim businessman Haji Karim Fakhrawi who allegedly died in police custody, during his funeral Wednesday, April 13, 2011, in Manama, Bahrain. Fakhrawi would be the fourth Bahraini to die in custody in the past two weeks. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

The body of Bahraini Shiite Muslim businessman Haji Karim Fakhrawi, who allegedly died in police custody, is carried into a Manama, Bahrain, cemetery for burial on Wednesday, April 13, 2011. Opposition activists say Fakhrawi's death brings to four the number of detainees to die in the past two weeks. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

Mourners react on seeing the body of Bahraini Shiite Muslim businessman Kareem Fakhrawi, who allegedly died in police custody, at his funeral Wednesday, April 13, 2011, in Manama, Bahrain. Anti-government protesters at the funeral took the body aside, keeping his family away, and unwrapped it to check for and photograph any signs of torture. Opposition activists allege three other Bahrainis who died in custody in the past two weeks were tortured. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

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The state-run Bahrain News Agency said on Friday that authorities are holding off any action until the outcome of investigations into the main Shiite political group, Wefaq, and a smaller Shiite bloc.

Bahrain's Sunni rulers had earlier said the groups would be shut down for alleged links to the Shiite-led uprising in the strategic Gulf kingdom that hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. The U.S. State Department quickly raised concern about Bahrain's plans to block the groups.

Wefaq has withdrawn its lawmakers from Bahrain's parliament to protest the government's crackdown on dissent, including a declaration of martial law.

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April 15, 2011 02:46 AM EDT

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