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Causeway bomb plot clouds Bahrain talks

The Bahrain police have found a bomb planted on the causeway linking the island to Saudi Arabia as protests in the country escalated following opposition calls to mark the second anniversary of unrest on February 14.

The bomb was found on Thursday at a busy location near a mosque on a service road on the Bahrain side of the King Fahad Causeway used by thousands of people every day.

Major-General Tariq Hassan Al Hassan, Chief of Public Security, said the Ordinance Disposal Unit defused the 2kg homemade bomb made of highly explosive material.

The explosive was kept in a pressure cooker that raised the suspensions of a cleaner who alerted the police at 4pm. The causeway is usually busy at this time on Thursday with travellers from both sides because of the weekend.

There was no announcement by the authority about tightening security on the causeway amid fears the bomb plot would cloud national dialogue.

This was the biggest of a number of bombs defused at different parts of Bahrain recently. Six blasts occurred in capital Manama on November 5 that killed an Asian and injured two others.

Violence continued for the third consecutive day on Saturday in the Budaiya area that housed many disturbed villages. Protesters blocked Budaiya road with lampposts they broke down after the funeral of protester Hussain Ali Ahmed who died on Thursday, according to the Interior Ministry’s Twitter account.

Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa expressed regret over the violence at a time when all parties have agreed to sit at the table of dialogue to reach a consensus on pending contentious political issues.

In a statement, he stressed the government’s resolve to prevent use of violence as a tool to influence decisions taken by parties involved in the dialogue. He said anyone who has got real demands should not incite violence or use those demands as a pretext to justify violence.

The talks started on February 10 by all political powers, including the opposition that vowed to continue calling for its demands through street demonstrations, along with its participation in the dialogue.

shamada@khaleejtimes.com