DAMMAM, 3 April 2003 — The Kingdom of Bahrain has expelled the first secretary at the Iraqi mission in Manama on the basis of his suspected links with locals who were involved in subversive activities.
The External Affairs Ministry yesterday called the Iraqi Charge d’Affaires, Abdullah Jabouri, and informed him that the Iraqi First Secretary, Nazim Jawwad, was now a persona non grata and so should leave the Kingdom immediately.
Jawwad was found to have been in contact with a Bahraini, Uday Abdul Amir Hassoun, who was a suspect in the attack on America’s 5th Fleet Central Command in Manama. Uday was later arrested and jailed.
Last week, an explosion at the gate of the headquarters of Fifth Fleet rocked the area. Initial reports said that it was caused by a gas cylinder found in a trash bin outside the 5th Fleet Command gate.
Hassoun, it transpired, had been in contact with the expelled Iraqi diplomat. Bahraini Foreign Ministry sources say that under normal circumstances there would have been no need for any contact between the Iraqi diplomat and the suspect, and was not in line with normal diplomatic protocol.
