MANAMA, 4 July 2004 — Bahrain’s prime minister said yesterday his country was secure and able to protect residents after Washington warned of possible attacks in the kingdom and issued a mandatory evacuation order for some US citizens.
“Bahrain has been and still is an oasis of safety, security and stability ... and is capable of protecting the interests of all individuals and institutions that it hosts,” said Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa ibn Salman Al-Khalifa.
“The country’s security apparatus is capable of thwarting any attempt to target those under the protection of the state,” he said in remarks carried on the official news agency BNA.
The US Defense Department issued a mandatory evacuation order on Friday for non-emergency employees and families of American military personnel due to concern about planned attacks by extremists on US and Western targets in Bahrain.
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved the “temporary relocation,” lasting at least 30 days, after the State Department issued its advisory.
“Credible information indicates that extremists remain at large and are planning attacks in Bahrain,” the advisory stated.
Earlier, American citizens were urged to consider leaving Bahrain, which is the Gulf’s financial and banking hub.
It is less than two weeks since Bahrain arrested six men on suspicion of supporting the Al-Qaeda organization and planning attacks in the Gulf state, but then freed them because of lack of evidence.
The US Embassy in Manama gave no details about the threat in Bahrain.
Bahrain has seen violent protests against US policy in the Middle East, including demonstrations organized by opposition groups.
In February 2003, five Bahrainis were arrested and accused of planning terror attacks in the kingdom.
Troops for Iraq
Bahrain’s King Hamad said yesterday his country was ready to participate in a naval force to secure Iraq’s territorial waters should Baghdad request its help.
“Bahrain is ready to resume its contribution in guarding Iraq’s territorial waters and training Iraqis in this field, if it is asked to do so by the new Iraqi government,” he said in a statement carried by BNA.
Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said on Sunday the multinational force in Iraq should be expanded to include other countries such as Morocco, Bahrain and Oman, but he acknowledged risks were involved in such a commitment.
Oman said on Thursday there was no need to send more troops to Iraq to boost the US-led multinational force and that any such troop deployment required further study by the Arab League.
Kuwait has said it would not send troops to Iraq while a Yemeni offer to provide troops to a stabilization force is conditional to a prior withdrawal by US-led coalition forces and being under a UN mandate.
The US State Department on Friday welcomed conditional offers of troop contributions from both Yemen and Jordan.
