Kuwait has arrested a Kuwaiti Shi'ite Muslim man for publishing criticism of the ruling families in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia on social media site Twitter, a security source said on Saturday.

Nasser Abul was arrested on Thursday and no charges have been pressed against him so far, the source said. He gave no details.

Democracy activists have used social media to debate, organize and share information in Bahrain where the government crushed a protest movement in March after inviting Saudi and United Arab Emirates forces to help restore order.

Bahrain questioned a rights activist in April for publishing an image which appeared to show signs of torture on a man who died in detention during the unrest. It is not clear if the case will be brought to court.

A Bahraini journalist said last month he was questioned about his Twitter postings during two hours of detention.

Gulf Arab governments, run by closely-allied ruling families, are trying to stop protest movements that brought down Egyptian and Tunisian leaders this year taking off in their patch.

They fear democracy movements could allow Shi'ite power Iran to gain influence. Bahrain has a Shi'ite majority and Kuwait and other Gulf countries have Shi'ite minorities.

(Reporting by Eman Goma; writing by Andrew Hammond)

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