OHCHR raps Bahrain for inaccurate reports

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GENEVA, Switzerland, June 7 (UPI) -- The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said Tuesday it was disturbed by the "blatant distortion" of reports of talks in the state-run news agency in Bahrain.

The state-run Bahrain News Agency reported during the weekend that U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay described the situation in the country as far different from political unrest in other parts of the Arab world.

Certain information which we received about the developments in Bahrain is untrue," she was quoted by BNA as saying.

Rupert Colville, a spokesman for Pillay, said BNA wasn't at the meeting between the high commissioner and Bahraini officials.

"The high commissioner would like to stress that she made no such statement and is disturbed by this blatant distortion of her words," he said in a statement. "She will formally request the government officials who attended the meeting to issue a correction."

Bahrain is facing criticism for the response by the Sunni monarchy to a Shiite uprising. Scores of healthcare workers are on trial in the kingdom for their role in giving treatment to anti-government protesters.

Pillay described the March 16 seizure by security forces of a hospital in Bahrain as "shocking and illegal conduct."