DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Bahrain says it has filed a lawsuit to dissolve a secular political party in the island nation, part of an escalating crackdown on any dissent.

The state-run Bahrain News Agency said the country's Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Ministry filed the lawsuit Monday against the Waad party.

It accused the party of "supporting terrorism."

Waad officials could not be immediately reached for comment by The Associated Press. One Waad politician previously was arrested and briefly faced charges for speaking to the AP in November during a visit by Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla.

Bahrain already has dissolved the country's largest Shiite opposition group, Al-Wefaq, and doubled a prison sentence for its secretary-general, Sheikh Ali Salman.

Bahrain hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet and an under-construction British naval base.