Manama: Bahrain’s public prosecution on Sunday said that the terror cell it busted with crucial help from Qatar had links to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and Basij, the paramilitary militia.
“Investigations have revealed that the cell plotting to carry out acts of terror in Bahrain coordinated with the Revolutionary Guards to train members on the use of weapons,” a public prosecution official said. “They had contacts with Assad Qaseer.”
Bahrain’s interior ministry on Saturday said that it was quizzing five Bahrainis on suspicion of forming a cell plotting to target vital installations and individuals.
Targets included the Saudi embassy in Manama, the building of the interior ministry and the King Fahd Causeway, the 25-kilometres long terrestrial link between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Four members of the cell were arrested by Qatar as they were attempting to enter the Gulf country from neighbouring Saudi Arabia. The Qataris said that a thorough search of their car yielded documents and a laptop carrying sensitive information, bookings to Syria and cash in US and Iranian currency.
The four suspects, handed over to Manama on November 4, gave the name of an alleged accomplice who was arrested in Bahrain.
“The plot was being implemented and members were being sent to Iran to receive military training,” the public prosecution official said. “One member travelled to Iran where he was trained on the use of weapons and explosive and he received cash to fund the group. Those who were arrested were on their way to Iran,” he said.
Other people could be arrested as the investigation goes on, he said.
The suspects will be in the public prosecution custody for 60 days and charges leveled against them include disrupting public order, stalling the constitution, plotting to carry out antagonistic acts against Bahrain and intelligence with a foreign country, the official said.
