Bahrain's foreign minister has called the head of Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah a "terrorist" after Hassan Nasrallah said his fighters would help bring victory to its ally President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war.
The comments represent a departure from the traditional Arab view of Hezbollah as a main force against Israel and show the widening sectarian divisions in the region over the war in Syria.
Sunni-ruled Bahrain has been rocked by political turmoil since majority Shia Muslims took to the streets in 2011 to push for reforms and more say in the government. Bahrain's rulers blame regional Shia power Iran, Hezbollah's main backer, of fomenting the unrest "Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa, said that Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah is a terrorist and is declaring war on his own nation," the Bahrian News Agency reported, quoting the minister's twitter account.
"Stopping (Nasrallah) and saving Lebanon from him is a national and religious duty," he added, according to BNA.
Nasrallah said in a speech on Saturday marking the 13th anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon that Syria and Lebanon faced a threat from radical Sunni Islamists.
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