Bahrain Mirror- AP: Agence France-Presse says a former photographer for the French news agency has been released in Bahrain after being held for more than 24 hours.

The news agency said on Thursday that photographer Mohammed Al-Shaikh is not facing charges, but that he was being held for his work for the AFP. The agency says the government declined to renew his press credentials in August.

Al-Shaikh was taken into custody at Bahrain International Airport on Wednesday, following a trip abroad.

Bahraini officials did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment. The photographer's relatives could not immediately be reached.

The arrest comes amid a renewed crackdown that over the past year has seen Bahraini activists imprisoned or exiled and the country's largest Shiite opposition group dissolved.

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