DUBAI (Reuters) – Bahrain yesterday accused more than 20 Shi’ite opposition leaders arrested in a broad crackdown of plotting to overthrow the Gulf state’s monarchy by promoting violent protests and acts of sabotage.

State media quoted prosecutors as saying they would bring charges against the 23 men, two of whom are abroad and not under arrest. They include prominent Shi’ite Muslim clerics and human rights activists.

Bahraini public prosecution official Abdulrahman al-Sayed said in a statement that the men were the leaders of a “sophisticated terrorist network” suspected of “the planning and instigation of violence … and seeking to overthrow the regime by force.”

The detentions have sparked widespread protests, some violent, in the small Gulf island state, where a parliamentary election is due on Oct. 23.

Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, is governed by a Sunni monarchy but has a majority Shi’ite population that complains of discrimination in jobs and services. The government denies the accusation.