MANAMA, 11 November 2005 — Bahrain, which is to host major meetings of G-8 and Middle Eastern foreign ministers, beefed up security measures yesterday after the suicide bombings in Jordan.
“The terrorist attacks in Jordan are of great concern to us. The security measures you have seen while entering the hotel may differ when you leave,” Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al-Thani told a press conference.
“There is no fear for the security and comfort of our guests. It is the most important issue for us at this moment,” said Sheikh Khalid. Across Manama, security personnel were seen checking cars entering main hotels.
“Jordan or Bahrain, we are all targets for terrorism,” said the Bahraini minister. Terrorism will be one of the main issues on the agenda of the talks between the foreign ministers when they meet today at a working dinner, he said.
“Terrorism will not deviate us from forging with reforms to upgrade the standards of living for the citizens,” Sheikh Khalid said.
The Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) initiative, launched by US President George W. Bush at the G-8 summit in June 2004, calls for political and economic reforms in Arab and Muslim countries stretching from Mauritania to Pakistan.
Sheikh Khalid, whose country will co-chair the Forum of the Future alongside the UK, defended the forum and denied that it would be used by the US to impose changes on the regimes of the region.
