Gulf | Kuwait
Bahrainis not targeted, says Kuwait
Kuwait's Foreign Minister on Sunday rejected claims that his country singled out Bahrainis in not allowing them to transit into Iraq.
- By Habib Toumi Bureau Chief
- Published: 00:58 February 4, 2008
Manama: Kuwait's Foreign Minister on Sunday rejected claims that his country singled out Bahrainis in not allowing them to transit into Iraq.
"The claims that we have not allowed Bahrainis to use the Kuwaiti territory to enter Iraq because of terrorism concerns are not true and lack credibility," Shaikh Mohammad Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah, Kuwait's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, said.
"We have closed the border point to all nationalities and to all commercial transactions because we are using it only for security-related activities," he said at a press conference in Manama.
Hassan Sultan, an MP representing Al Wefaq, Bahrain's largest parliamentary bloc, last week said the Kuwaiti authorities had banned Bahrainis from using the point to travel into Iraq because of concerns that the travellers included Iraqis who had been given Bahraini passports and who are not welcome in Kuwait.
"Bahrain has naturalised many Iraqis with strong ties to the Iraqi former president Saddam Hussain and Kuwait has concerns about their presence near the border where many terrorist activities have been taking place," Sultan said.
Pro-Saddam militias
Bahrain has consistently denied claims, first made last year, that it had granted Bahraini citizenship to Iraqis who formed part of the pro-Saddam militias before moving into the kingdom.
The claims gained in intensity in December amid reports by the opposition that the Iraqis were seen and heard as they supported the police during the violent clashes that marked the religious and national celebrations.
Iraq's ambassador in Manama rejected the allegations, saying that there were no former Iraqi militia men in Bahrain.
A large number of Bahrainis travel to Iraq to commemorate a religious ceremony held 40 days after Ashura, one of the most significant religious occasions for Shiites.
The entry ban by the Kuwaiti immigration officials has led several Bahrainis to take a longer route through Jordan.
Kuwait and Iraq share a 240-kilometre border.
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