Bahraini security forces surround ailing prominent Shia cleric's home

According to officials from the country’s dissolved al-Wefaq party on Sunday, Sheikh Qassim is in immediate need of medical treatment.   Last year, Bahraini authorities dissolved the country’s main Shia opposition group, al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, as well as Islamic Enlightenment Society (Tawiya) and al-Risala Society.   Sheikh Isa Qassim, Wefaq’s spiritual leader, was stripped of his citizenship in June last year over accusations that he had used his position to serve foreign interests and promote sectarianism and violence. The cleric was handed a suspended one-year prison term and ordered to pay a fine. PressTV-Bahrain tense as Shia cleric gets suspended jail The court has issued the ruling against Sheikh Isa Qassim, the spiritual leader of dissolved opposition bloc al-Wefaq.   The ruling against the prominent Shia cleric also sparked widespread protests and condemnations. In this file photo, anti-regime protesters hold posters of Shia cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim during a protest organized by Bahrain's dissolved opposition party al-Wefaq National Islamic Society in Budaiya village, west of Manama, Bahrain. (Photo by Reuters)  Bahrain has been the scene of anti-regime protests on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the country in February 2011.