Manama: Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa said that combating theofascist groups that promote extremist views and terrorism remained a priority.
A greater unification of the international efforts to confront these groups and to prevent them from undermining security and stability in the region is highly crucial, Prince Salman said as he received British Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Minister, Tobias Ellwood.
Bahrain is part of an international coalition fighting the Daesh terror group that has seized large swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq.
The kingdom is also member of another international coalition conducting operations to restore the legitimate president and government in Yemen.
In his meeting with Ellwood, Prince Salman stressed the commitment of both Bahrain and Britain to bolster cooperation on all levels in pursuit of shared strategic goals and interests and highlighted the UK’s prominent role in maintaining regional security and stability alongside international partners, Bahrain News Agency (BNA) reported.
Bahrain is committed to further developing ties with its international partners, a key priority underpinned by King Hamad’s programme of reform and development, Prince Salman said.
During a media round-table, Ellwood said that Bahraini servicemen would undergo training at top UK military academies as part of a new mutual agreement between the two countries.
“The plans are still being worked out,” Ellwood said. “But what I hope to see is an opportunity to raise standards and complement each other’s work. There will be opportunities for us to work with Bahraini military forces and to offer mutual support — programmes where Bahraini soldiers, sailors and airmen, and indeed some senior Bahraini officers, will go and attend training at Sandhurst, Dartmouth and Cranwell,” he said, Bahraini media reported.
In December, Bahrain and Britain signed a memorandum of understanding for a new permanent British naval base.
“We are grateful to Bahrain for the opportunity to place these enormous naval assets in such a strategic location in the Gulf,” Ellwood said, quoted by Gulf Daily News.
“This marks our embarkation on a new Gulf strategy and I’m delighted that Bahrain is allowing us to play such an important role in the security commitments in this area.”
Ellwood said the fight against terrorism was not confined to a specific region.
“We all face the global challenge of individuals being incited to go and join the extremism in Iraq. Up to 700 people have chosen to turn their back on Britain and to go and fight for Daesh. The same applies to other European countries and to the Middle East as well — including Bahrain. This is why it must be a collective effort to challenge this ideology and we should aim to defeat it,” he said, quoted by the newspaper.
