Bahrain is a strategic ally, with the friendship between the two countries further forged with the new base to tackle threats in the region. Defence secretary Michael Fallon said, ‘This new base is a permanent expansion of the Royal Navy’s footprint and will enable Britain to send more and larger ships to reinforce stability in the Gulf’.
Bahrain’s Crown Prince has urged a war on ‘evil theocracy’ and the world is convinced that murder and execution in the name of any religion is unacceptable and must stop.
There is a crisis in the UK with the recruitment of young girls to join jihadists in Syria and Iraq and your intelligence agencies are doing their utmost to combat terrorism in the UK. With the recent revelation of ‘Jihadi John’, the challenge of eliminating the radicalisation of youths has become more apparent with aggressive extremists firmly placed in the education system.
With the new commitment with Bahrain, I hope that you will question the dubious personalities with links to Iran, who live comfortably in the UK and continue their venomous campaign against the peaceful majority in this country.
As a British citizen and a resident of Bahrain for over two decades, I can say with confidence that this is a multi-ethnic society with a leadership that is both visionary and open-minded. There is freedom of speech, freedom of religion and gender equality. With this in mind, I ask why the British newspapers continue to sell false propaganda to its readers in the name of ‘free media’ when the allegations are so far from the truth on the ground.
If indeed the British government wants to stop the radicalising of young people in the community, it is not only Islamic State (IS) that remains a problem but also Hizbollah which has firm representation in the UK.
The UK government has offered asylum to unscrupulous Bahraini characters like Saeed Shehabi, Ala’a Shehabi, Yousif Muhafadha, Ali Abdulemam, Jawad Fairooz and Mushaima to name a few. These extremists’ core belief is violence, they have links to Iran and Hizbollah, run organisations from the UK and are even permitted valuable space in British newspapers and television.
On the other hand, voices of truth, which is the vast majority and who firmly oppose sectarian violence of the so-called Al Wefaq ‘opposition’ group with its fans based in the UK, are continually ignored and their validity questioned.
On social media, accounts created and run from the UK are abusive and baselessly accuse Bahrain’s security personnel and government of torture and repression. These same accounts are abusive towards anyone with a contrary opinion and the constant barrage is disturbing. Some claim to be MBE holders while others call themselves ‘activists’.
What sort of British activist, MBE holder or citizen supports terrorism in another country and criticises it on home ground? It would do a great service to the British people if intelligence agencies were to identify these people as they may radicalise unsuspecting victims through false propaganda.
Mr David Cameron and Ms Theresa May, as a British citizen I respectfully urge you to address the issue of people who use the UK as a base to support terrorism and to encourage as well as condone sectarian violence in Bahrain through foreign funding.
The UK stands for justice and tolerance ‘“ people who incite violence and terrorism under the guise of human rights should not be welcome in a country whose pillar of foreign policy is that of peace.
Sally Saar