Lebanon to deport outlawed Bahrain opposition party members

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s interior minister has ordered the deportation of members of Bahrain’s outlawed Shiite opposition party after they criticized from Beirut their country’s human rights record. It wasn’t immediately clear how many Al-Wefaq members will be impacted by Wednesday’s decision. The order is likely another move to ease an unprecedented diplomatic crisis between Lebanon and several Gulf Arab nations, including Bahrain, a Sunni monarchy with a majority Shiite population. Bahrain in 2016 suspended Al-Wefaq, the island nation’s largest opposition group as part of its crackdown on dissent. The party last week held a press conference in Beirut to launch its annual human rights report.