LONDON, April 24: Bahrain's crown prince said he would not attend Britain's royal wedding on April 29 because of continuing unrest in his Gulf Arab kingdom, defusing a potentially embarrassing row over his invitation.

Human rights campaigners criticising Bahrain's fierce security crackdown on anti-government protesters called on Britain's royal family to withdraw the wedding invite sent to Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa.

The British government has also called on Bahrain to respect human rights, urging it last week to investigate reports of deaths in custody, torture and denial of medical treatment.

The crown prince said he had decided with “deep regret” to decline the invitation to the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton, in a letter sent to William's father Prince Charles, heir to the British throne.

Details of the letter were released by a spokesman for the crown prince, who was one of 1,900 guests invited to the wedding at Westminster Abbey in London.

In the letter, the crowd prince said the decision had been “left for as long as possible in the sincere hope that ongoing events — resulting from recent unrest in the Kingdom of Bahrain — might have improved, leaving me able to join the celebrations of the House of Windsor and the family of Miss Middleton, without being overshadowed by issues in Bahrain”.—Reuters