London, Dec10(BNA)London-based Bahrain Embassy hosted its annual ceremony marking the 42nd National Day. Bahrain Ambassador to the UK Alice Sama’an received a number of British officials led by Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology Philip Dunne.

Mr. Dunne delivered a speech hailed strong bilateral relations and joint cooperation, stressing particularly the defence cooperation agreement which was sealed in October 2012. Ms. Sama’an lauded bilateral ties, stressing the recent visit of British Foreign Secretary William Hague on December 6-8 to attend the 9th Manama Dialogue on regional security.

Mr. Hague delivered a keynote speech at the conference, which was co-organised by the Kingdom of Bahrain in cooperation with London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
The ambassador stressed upcoming festivities scheduled to be held next year marking the bicentennial of Bahraini-British friendship.

The ceremony was attended by a number of MPs, Lords, former Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Alistair Burt, British Heir to the Throne Prince Charles’ office director, members of the Arab and foreign diplomatic corps, journalists, businessmen, friends of Bahrain in Britain, Bahraini citizens and students.

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BNA 1806 GMT 2013/12/10