Bahraini authorities have suspended Al-Wasat daily which has been critical of the government in its coverage of a month-long Shiite-led protest that was quashed last month.

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 Shiite 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 Shiites, 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.