The Kingdom's Information Affairs Commission also referred the newspaper to investigation, BNA state news agency said overnight Saturday, without specifying the motive behind the suspension.

State television accused Al Wasat of publishing "fabricated" reports last week about the "security developments in Bahrain", claiming that the daily printed "false news" and "fake names of people claimed to have been abused by police".

The newspaper is headed by Masur al Jamri, a former opposition activist during the Shia uprising in the 1990s, who returned to Bahrain in 2001 following a royal pardon.

Backed by a joint force from fellow Sunni Gulf nations, Bahraini security forces quelled a month long pro democracy protest dominated by shia, who form the majority in the Sunni ruled kingdom, in mid March.

At least 24 people, including four policemen, were killed in the unrest, according to the interior ministry.