Bahrain said on Sunday it would take legal measures to close down a Shia Islamist opposition party that has played a prominent role in protests against its Sunni Muslim monarchy.

The justice ministry said it would ask the courts to ban the Islamic Action party, Amal, for "major violations" of Bahrain's constitution and laws, the state BNA news agency reported.

Amal spokesman Hisham Sabbagh said he believed the ministry was trying to put pressure on the party to accept a national dialogue with the government aimed at ending the political
crisis which grew out of protests that erupted 16 months ago. 

He said the violations referred to party meetings in unlicensed premises in 2006 and 2008.

Bahrain's biggest Shi'ite opposition party, Wefaq, and other legal opposition groups have accepted the dialogue in principle, after saying a previous round was skewed towards pro-government factions and did not take their demands seriously.

[Source: Reuters]