DUBAI, July 9 (Reuters) - Bahrain has urged Saudi Arabia to either charge eight Bahraini nationals detained in the Islamic kingdom or to release them. Saudi Arabia said last month it had detained the Bahrainis who local media said were caught near a desert military installation in February and were suspected of spying.

The men said they had lost their way.

"If these nationals committed a crime or made a mistake then they should be tried," Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa told Arabic satellite channel Al Jazeera in an interview aired on Wednesday.

"If there is nothing to it or if there is a mistake that is already covered by their incarceration, then they should be released," he said.

"There is so far no charge against them of spying or anything of this kind ... We don't want to impose a position or a particular demand. We just want a clear picture."

The small island state of Bahrain is joined to Saudi Arabia by a causeway and the two states have close ties.

But Saudi Arabia, which sees itself as the leader of Sunni Islam, is wary of Bahrain's large Shi'ite community, which shares its faith with Iran.

Tensions have developed in the region between Tehran and U.S.-allied Gulf Arab governments over Iran's growing influence in the Arab world since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and its nuclear energy programme. (Writing by Lin Noueihed; Editing by Caroline Drees)

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