MANAMA: Fourteen people have been arrested for plotting attacks on the Bahraini capital Manama, Bahrain’s interior minister said yesterday.
Sheikh Rashid Bin Abdullah 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 nightclubs in Manama on the Dec. 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 traveled 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, 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 Dec. 18 and face the same charges. Their lawyer said earlier that his clients were members of the country’s Shiite majority.
Bahrain is a close US ally and also hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet. However, it has seen unrest — last December, the Shiites staged widespread protests, fueled in part by economic disparities between Sunnis and Shiites. Dec. 17 marks the anniversary of Bahraini king’s accession to power in 1999.
