14 arrested in Bahrain terror raids

Fourteen people have been arrested for plotting attacks on the Bahraini capital Manama, Bahrain’s interior minister said today.

Sheikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa told reporters that those arrested have been trained in weapons and explosives in Syria and were planning to attack commercial streets, the diplomatic district and night clubs in Manama on the December 17 national holiday.

Two Bahrainis residing in London are believed to be the masterminds and cell’s leaders, he added, without elaborating further.

The minister said that suspects travelled to Syria as tourists in July and August and then met with one of the two “masterminds”.

“There they received intensive training on making explosives, bombs, how to use them and how to make car bombs,” the minister told reporters.

“This plot is dangerous, not only because it is related to sabotage or aggression but because it is related to training and carrying out terrorist attacks,” he said.

Police stormed houses of the 14 suspects and confiscated explosives, according to the minister who also said that all of them have confessed and have given detailed account of their plans.

Two of the 14 were arrested early on December 18 and face the same charges.

Their lawyer said earlier that his clients were members of the country’s Shiite Muslim majority.

The tiny oil-refining and banking Gulf island is a close US ally and also hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.

However, it has seen unrest – last December, the country’s Shiites staged widespread protests, fuelled in part by economic disparities between the predominantly Sunni ruling elite and the country’s poorer, Shiite majority.

December 17 marks the anniversary of the day Bahrain’s king accession to power in 1999.