Bahrain said Tuesday it plans to allow its appointed, consultative Shura council to be chosen by popular vote in about five years, and to let women join the assembly starting later this year.

Bahrain's Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Sulman al-Khalifa made the announcements at a session of the Shura council, the official Gulf News Agency reported.

"We intend, with the support of the emir, to use elections as a way of forming the council after the next term," GNA quoted Sheikh Khalifa as saying.

The government set up the Shura council in 1992 mainly to review laws drafted by the Cabinet before they are sent to the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa for final approval. In 1996, the island increased the council's members to 40 from 30 to widen popular representation.

The council, which has no legislative powers, has a four-year term which starts in October. In 1975, Bahrain dissolved its elected parliament, two years after it was set up: Political parties are banned in Bahrain.

Restoration of the elected parliament was the main demand fueling political unrest by the island's majority Shi'ite Muslim community. The disturbances began in 1994 and abated only in 1998.

Reuters