Manama: The Arab League has joined a chorus of condemnation of the armed attack on a prison in Jau, in the southeast of Bahrain, that left one policeman killed and enabled 10 convicts to escape.
In a statement, Arab League secretary-general Ahmad Abul Gaith voiced full solidarity with Bahrain’s leadership in waging the war on terrorism and rejecting external interference in its internal affairs.
The Arab-League Chief “slammed certain regional powers, led by Iran, which are adamant on interfering in the internal affairs of Arab countries and fuelling unrest by exporting a heinous and sectarian-tainted mantra”.
Abul Gaith said that such a subversive policy undermines the confidence of the Arab countries in the possibility of building normal and constructive relations with Iran on the basis of good neighbourhood and mutual respect.
In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, condemned the attack.
“The armed attack was a heinous act of terrorism that the GCC countries utterly condemn,” Abdul Latif Al Zayani, the GCC secretary-general, said. “The GCC fully supports Bahrain and the measures it takes to safeguard its security and preserve the security of its citizens and residents.”
Al Zayani said that he was confident the Bahraini security agencies would be able to re-capture the fugitives and present them to justice.
“They will also be able to identify the parties that supported the terrorists,” he added as he offered his condolences to the family of the deceased policeman.
In Tunis, the secretariat general of the Arab Interior Ministers expressed its “full condemnation of the coward criminal act” and stressed its “solidarity with Bahrain in confronting terrorism and confronting the external schemes aimed at undermining security and stability”.
In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia said that it fully condemned the attack and fully supported Bahrain in its “fight against terrorism, extremism and all attempts to undermine its stability and the security of its people”.
In Abu Dhabi, the UAE condemned the attack as an act of terrorism.
“The UAE strongly condemns the terrorist attack that targeted innocent lives and attempt to undermine security in Bahrain, and fully supports Bahrain on all the measures it takes to confront such coward acts,” Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said. “We are confident that such acts of terrorism would not hamper Bahrain or its people from their efforts to address hopeless sabotage and violence attempts.”
In Kuwait, the cabinet condemned the attack and said that it stood side by side with Bahrain in all the measures it is taking to maintain its security and stability.
In Doha, Qatar said that it condemned the armed attack and fully supported Bahrain in the way it dealt with terrorism to safeguard stability and security in the country.
“We are confident that the security agencies will be able to identify those behind this heinous crime and bring them to justice,” the foreign affairs ministry said in a statement.
In Muscat, the Omani foreign ministry said that it condemned the attack, describing it as an act of terror that is rejected by all religions and human norms.
“Oman invariably stands with all brothers and friends against terrorism and stresses its absolute rejection of all forms of terrorism at anytime and anywhere,” the ministry said.
