Bahrain Mirror: Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah praised the Bahrainis holding an open rally outside the Bahraini Shia spiritual leader Ayatollah Isa Qassim's house in Diraz, despite the "rising hot temperatures".

In his speech delivered in a ceremony honoring one of the group's leaders, Nasrallah said that the Bahraini authorities stripped Sheikh Qassim of his nationality and wanted to deport him, "yet the loyal Bahrainis rallied with bare chests (defenseless) outside his house to defend him."

Commenting on the accusations raised by the authorities against Ayatollah Qassim, Nasrallah highlighted that "Al Khalifa created this new fabrication, which is deeming the Khums and charity practices acts of money laundering [...] Today, it's Ayatollah Qassim, and tomorrow any cleric in Bahrain who collects Khums could face the same charge."

"Throughout history, clerics have collected Zakat, Khums and charity money to spend on the poor, and now the Al Khalifa family have a new law and fabrication," the Hezbollah leader added.

Nasrallah further stressed that authorities won't succeed in their attempts to distort the clear image of Sheikh Qassim.

The Hezbollah Secretary-General concluded his portion of the speech on Bahrain by voicing his solidarity with the people of Bahrain, on an international day of solidarity (July 29, 2016) announced by the opposition, during which a number of cities across the world witnessed shows of support for the Bahraini people's pro-democracy demands.

Arabic Version