Bahrain's Commander-in-Chief Hosts US CENTCOM CommandersWhilst meetings are part of every government's day, a series of encounters in the past week suggest that security and Saudi union is again very much on the mind of Bahrain --- and its allies.
The backdrop to this activity took place on Sunday, when the Bahrain Interior Minister, Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, visited his Saudi counterpart, Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The Saudi Gazette reported, "The talks focused on the recent raids by the Bahraini security forces that resulted in the uncovering of 'terrorist hideouts' and seizure of materials used for manufacturing explosive devices." The Prince "lauded the cooperation between the two countries in security aspects". Interestingly, the regime's Bahrain News Agency buries this comment, following three paragraphs of what it describes as a "brotherly visit" by the Bahrain minister.
On Monday, US CIA Director David Petraeus was in Saudi Arabia for separate meetings with King Abdullah and Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, discussing “matters of common concern".
On his return from Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the Bahrain Interior Minister met with the UK Ambassador Iain Lindsay, along with Deputy Ambassador Russ Kick. This follows a series of meetings the Interior Minister had in the UK a fortnight ago, during which the alleged bomb-making equipment was discovered in Bahrain. Scotland Yard subsequently sent specialist detectives to help with the investigation.
The Interior Minister saw Ghanim bin Fadl Al Buainain, Bahrain's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs who "lauded the pioneering role of the Saudi diplomacy, describing it as a successful model of the GCC joint political and diplomatic work regarding various regional and international issues."
On the same day, the US Deputy Ambassador Stephanie Williams sat down with Prime Minister Court Chief Shaikh Hussam bin Isa Al Khalifa, who "underlined both countries’ keenness to further solidify strategic relations of cooperation in the political, economic, trade and security fields". Yesterday, Deputy Ambassador Williams met with Shaikh Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, the Deputy Prime Minister to discuss "current progress in bilateral friendly relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United States of America".
Concluding this curious flurry of meetings, yesterday USA-CENTCOM's Commander Lt-General David L. Goldfein met with Bahrain Defence Force Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa. State media reports the BDF Commander-in-Chief as having "explored with him bilateral cooperation relations and military coordination between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the friendly (sic) United States of America. Also during the meeting, the two sides explored various topics of mutual interest".
Afterwards, the BDF Commander-in-Chief twelcomed King Hamad, the Supreme Commander of the BDF, to a military graduation. Gulf Daily News quoted Hamad as saying, "The GCC forces, now more than ever before, have a major role to play in promoting the rule of law and step up the march towards more progress and prosperity." To ensure this message is not lost in the graduation story, Gulf Daily News headlines the article, "King Hails Role of GCC Armed Forces".