Bahrain has deported an American female nursery school teacher for her online publications and social media activities linked to radical opposition groups, as well as violating terms of her work permit.

The ministry of state for communications said in a statement on Saturday that it received a “complaint about an individual using Twitter and other websites to publish articles” on Bahrain that were “deemed to incite hatred against the government and members of the Royal family, as well as spreading misinformation and encouraging divisions in Bahraini society based on religious sect”.

The American teacher, who wrote under a pen name, violated the Labour Laws of Bahrain by working illegally as an unaccredited journalist. She published a number of articles for online journals including Muftah (where she holds the title of co-editor and works as a reporter), Lebanon’s Hezbullah-linked As Safir newspaper and the outlawed Bahrain Centre for Human Rights newsletter, among others.

According to her landlord, she had a Hezbullah flag along with other paraphernalia of the Lebanese terrorist organisation in her residence. This along with her social media activities led to the complaint filed with the ministry.

The principal at the school where the woman taught said in the statement: “We cannot have someone teaching impressionable young children who supports an internationally recognised terrorist organisation like Hezbullah.” –shamada@khaleejtimes.com