Manama: Bahrain has called for holding an Arab meeting to discuss the future of the Arab nation and draft a strategy that will serve its interests and achieve security and stability in the region.
King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa made the call during a telephone conversation with Egyptian President Mohammad Hosni Mubarak, Bahrain News Agency (BNA) reported.
"King Hamad stressed his confidence in the stability of Egypt thanks to President Mubarak's wisdom, enlightened vision and aspiration for further development and better future for the Egyptian people," BNA said.
King Hamad praised the importance of Egypt as the strategic backbone of the Arabs in defending Arab and Islamic causes, citing its robust position in the liberation of Kuwait from occupation in 1990-1991, and its crucial role in serving Arab causes, promoting unity and reinforcing Arab action for the benefit of the Arabs, the news agency said.
"Bahrain will never forget such honourbale stances by Egypt," King Hamad said.
Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, the foreign minister, told the media that Egypt is vital for stability in the region.
"What is happening in Tunisia and Egypt is a domestic issue, but we call for referring to the constitution in the application of democracy," he said. "We do hope that Egyot will not be affected because it is the pillar of stability in the region," Shaikh Khalid said during a press conference with his Cypriot counterpart, Markos Kyprianou who was in Bahrain on a short visit.
Egypt is one of several Arab countries currently witnessing political turmoil amid talk, fuelled mainly by the media, about contagion to other countries in the region. Protests in Tunisia on January 14 toppled former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali while Lebanon is currently caught in an ominous crisis. In Jordan, Algeria and Mauritania, protesters have taken to the streets.
Several Arab and mostly Western analysts have brushed aside arguments about each Arab country having its own internal logic and started talking about a new situation that resembles that of Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
