HRM King Hamad of Bahrain has ordered the lifting on June 1 of a state of emergency that was imposed following weeks of anti-government street protests in the kingdom, the state news agency said on Sunday.

“The state of national safety is lifted across the Kingdom of Bahrain from June 1, 2011,” the agency BNA quoted the king's decree as saying.  

HRH Prime Minister, the Commander-in-chief of the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF), National Guard Chief and Ministers are tasked to implement the decree, the BNA said.

The three-month state of emergency, imposed on March 15, was due to be lifted June 15. It gave the Commander of the Bahraini Armed Forces a mandate “to take the measures and procedures necessary to preserve the safety of the nation and its people.”