By Isabel Coles
REUTERS
DUBAI: Bahrain’s government expressed regret Monday that the country’s largest Shiite opposition group Al-Wefaq planned to pull out of a national dialogue, but said political talks would continue on regardless of their absence.
The Gulf kingdom’s Sunni rulers launched a national dialogue on July 2 to discuss reforms and address grievances, after a four-month crackdown that began in March and crushed weeks of pro-democracy protests led by the Shiite majority.
A walkout by the largest opposition group could damage the dialogue’s chances of reaching national consensus as sectarian tensions continue to simmer in the kingdom.

Protests have erupted almost daily in Shiite villages ringing the capital Manama since Bahrain lifted emergency law in June, and tension had been rising as demonstrators increasingly demanded that the opposition quit the talks.
The national dialogue’s spokesman, Isa Abdul Rahman, said Al-Wefaq could rejoin the talks if it changed its mind.
“Should any participant choose to exclude themselves from the process, the door will remain open for them to return to the talks. Regardless of any participant’s decision to leave the dialogue will continue,” he said.

Al-Wefaq said Sunday it would withdraw because its views were not being taken seriously in talks it accused of being dominated by pro-government representatives. The decision has to be ratified by the movement’s leadership.
Al-Wefaq and six other opposition groups, which were invited to participate, have complained their proposed political reforms would never be put into effect because the opposition received only 35 of 300 seats at the talks.
Al-Wefaq, which held over 40 percent of seats in the elected lower council before it resigned in protest in February, was given five seats at the talks.

The government has defended its apportioning of representatives, saying it wants the dialogue to include all Bahrainis, regardless of how politically active they are.
Bahrain is seen as a fault line for tensions between Iran and Sunni Gulf Arab countries that are wary of protests spreading to their own Shiite minorities. The government has accused the opposition of pursuing a sectarian agenda with backing from nearby Shiite power Iran, charges the groups deny.

Mainstream opposition groups such as Al-Wefaq have called for a more representative parliamentary system and greater powers for the elected lower council, whose powers are neutralized by the upper Shura council.
But hard-liners calling for the abolition of the monarchy have gained popularity since the crackdown.
Dialogue spokesman Abdul Rahman said he was disappointed Al-Wefaq had not stuck with the talks.
“We consider Al-Wefaq’s contribution to the dialogue as central to its success thus far.”