Tuesday, Sep 24, 2013

Manama: Saudi Arabia is the gravity centre of Gulf and Arab stability, Bahrain’s Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa said.

“We join in the celebrations and joy of our Saudi brothers as they express their happiness with their national day,” Prince Khalifa said. “Our belief is that the celebrations of Saudi Arabia are celebrations for us all thanks to the robust and cordial ties between us. We will always work diligently to bolster our relations and make them more prosperous,” the prime minister said as he attended the celebrations hosted by the Saudi embassy in Manama.

Shaikh Khalifa said that Bahrain was grateful to King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz for his steady support at all levels. “We do appreciate the crucial Saudi role in backing the Bahraini development efforts in all areas. We reiterate today our thanks and appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques,” he said. “King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz is a great leader whose positive stances in supporting and promoting Arab and Islamic issues will always be hailed with deep respect,” he said.

Bahrain is linked with Saudi Arabia through the 25 kilometre-long King Fahd Causeway, used daily by thousands of people moving between the two countries and beyond. The causeway was officially opened in November 1986.On Monday, Bahrain’s foreign ministry condemned remarks by the Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman, saying that “they lacked credibility and did not reflect the reality on the ground in the kingdom.” On Sunday, the Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said that the arrest in Bahrain of Khalil Marzooq, the deputy leader of Al Wefaq society, was “a baseless excuse.” The former lawmaker was held last week for 30 days pending an investigation. “Investigations have revealed that the political assistant to Al Wefaq Islamic Society secretary general has links with the terrorist group The Coalition of February 14,” Public Prosecution head Nayef Yusuf said. “Some of the leaders and members of this group had been referred to the court. Marzooq supported the group and delivered speeches on several occasions that included incitement to commit and promote terrorist crimes, which denotes that he endorsed their principles and backed their acts of violence that are banned under the law. He delivered his latest speech in which he incited to acts of violence on September 6 at a political rally in Saar. During the meeting, Marzouq raised a banner of the terrorist organisation after it was handed to him by an unknown masked man,” the prosecutor said. The Information Affairs Authority (IAA) later denied media reports that the former lawmaker had been detained for political activities or speech related charges. “For many years, Khalil Marzooq has carried out his political activities unhindered both in and out of parliament, in and out of Bahrain, freely expressing views critical of government policy - a right enshrined in Bahrain’s constitution and guaranteed by its laws,” the IAA said in a statement to Bahrain News Agency (BNA). “The Public Prosecution warrant relates to an investigation into his links to an extremist group calling itself the Coalition of 14 February Revolution Youths. This group has declared responsibility for a car bomb that detonated in the main financial district of the capital city Manama on the 14th of April 2013. This group has repeatedly incited and glorified attacks against police and civilians on a daily basis,” the IAA said.

By Habib Toumi Bureau Chief

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