Despite crackdown by regime forces, Bahrainis on Wednesday performed Eid al-Fitr prayers next to the residence of prominent cleric, Ayatollah Sheikh Issa Qassem.

Despite crackdown by regime forces, Bahrainis on Wednesday performed Eid al-Fitr prayers next to the residence of prominent cleric, Ayatollah Sheikh Issa Qassem.

Bahraini authorities stripped Ayatollah Qassem of citizenship mor ethan two weeks earlier, in an escalation against the country's Shia majority by the ruling Al Khalifa.

On Wednesday, Bahrainis performed Eid prayers in the open sky, next to Sheikh Qassem's residence in Diraz, west of the capital, Manama.

Following the prayers, Sheikh Said Madeh slammed authorities for escalation, stressing that such move was dangerous, irrational and  unjustified.

Sheikh Madeh said Bahraini authorities are targeting rituals of Shia through banning the Khums, an obligation in which the Shiite Muslims pay one fifth of their annual surplus income.

The cleric also praised Sheikh Qassem as a patriotic figure, calling to defend this man against the authorities move to revoke his nationality.

Earlier on Sunday, Bahraini King approved revoking citizenship of Ayatollah Qassem.

In revoking Sheikh Qassem's citizenship, Bahrain accused him of sowing "sectarianism and violence," blaming him for the protests which have continued for years despite a heavy-handed crackdown on the island's mostly Shia community.

The decision against Sheikh Qassim follows the suspension of Bahrain's main opposition group, al-Wefaq, whose political chief Sheikh Ali Salman is serving a nine-year jail term on charges of inciting violence.