MANAMA, 24 September 2005 — Bahrain has decided to end its boycott of Israeli goods, diplomats said here yesterday.

According to the diplomats, Bahrain’s move followed the signing of a free trade agreement between Washington and Manama in September 2004.

The United States is set to begin free trade talks with four other Gulf states, which were in the process of closing the boycott offices and normalizing diplomatic relations with Israel, the diplomats said.

Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed ibn Mubarak Al-Khalifa confirmed the decision to close down the boycott office and said the decision was taken after the signing of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States. The US Congress is expected to ratify the agreement next month.

“Diplomatic relations with Israel depend on the general consensus of the Arab League, and Bahrain does not intend to divert from agreed principles,” the minister said.

A senior Western diplomat in Bahrain said the request to lift the ban on Israeli goods and normalize relations with the Jewish state was made during the FTA talks by US negotiators and US political pressure groups sympathizing with Israel.

He said the negotiators stressed the need for overt relations with Israel, which, according to him, had covert relations and secret representative offices in some of the Gulf countries since the mid 1990s.

Mohammed Al-Aradi, head of the Society for Resisting Normalization with the Zionist Enemy in Bahrain, expressed outrage at the government decision and said bilateral agreements could not override Arab League decision. He called on businessmen not to deal with Israeli goods even after the lifting of the boycott. Other political groups in Bahrain have echoed Aradi’s call.

Saudi Arabia recently signed a bilateral trade agreement with the United States as part of its efforts to join the WTO. In a statement following the accord, Commerce and Industry Minister Hashem Yamani said the Kingdom would deal with all WTO members in accordance with WTO agreements. He said the secondary and tertiary boycott of Israel had been abrogated with the Cabinet decision on Feb. 23, adding that the Cabinet took the decision on the basis of a resolution adopted by the GCC summit in December 1993.