Bahrain's FM says Hezbollah leader Nasrallah is a 'criminal'

Bahrain's foreign minister slammed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday for criticizing the Sunni-led Gulf kingdom's treatment of its opposition Shi'ite population, AFP reported.  "The people of Bahrain are above being addressed by a criminal whose hands are stained by the blood of innocents in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq," Khalid al-Khalifa wrote on his Twitter account.Al-Khalifa's comments came in response to Nasrallah's warning on Monday that the government of Bahrain "should not assume it can continue to oppress its people and pressure the outside world to remain silent."AFP also quoted the Hezbollah leader as criticizing the Gulf state's government as "dwarves whose oppression will get them only disappointment". "Any contact with terrorist Hezbollah is a contact with the enemy," AFP quoted al-Khalifa as saying, reiterating Bahrain's stance on the Shi'ite militant group as a terrorist entity.Bahrain in April became the first Arab state to blacklist Hezbollah as a terrorist group, Al Arabiya reported.The decision was based on the Lebanese militant organization's alleged support and training of radical Shi'ite groups against Bahrain.