Bahrain's Sunni king has ordered a state of emergency to be lifted from June 1, after imposing it following weeks of Shia-led street protests in the Gulf Arab kingdom, the state news agency said on Sunday. "The state of national safety is lifted across the kingdom of Bahrain from June 1, 2011," the agency BNA quoted the king's decree as saying. It had originally been due to expire in mid-June.
Bahrain, home to an often disgruntled Shia majority, quelled protests in March that had demanded greater political freedoms, a constitutional monarchy and an end to sectarian discrimination.
Neighbouring Sunni-led Gulf states sent troops to back Bahrain's forces, in turn boosting regional tension with nearby Shia power Iran, which Bahrain accuses of manipulating its Shia co-religionists to expand its influence.