Manama, Dec18(BNA)A batch of 222 Bahraini brides and grooms tied the knot this evening as part of the 23rd mass wedding. Parliament Chairman Khalifa bin Ahmed Al-Dhahrani patronised the ceremony at Shikhan Al-Farsi Convention Hall in Riffa.

Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan Charity Foundation (KBZF) director-general Mohammed Hajji Al-Khouri, Said Al-Kutbi, from the UAE Embassy in Bahrain, MPs and leading figures attended the wedding ceremony.

Mr. Al-Dhahrani stressed the importance of the Mass Wedding Project which enabled up to 2500 brides and grooms to tie the knot. He commended the Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan Charity Foundation (KBZF) which sponsored three mass weddings to-date, hailing strong fraternal relations bonding Bahrain and the UAE.

The ceremony coincides with the Kingdom of Bahrain’s celebrations of its National Days on December 16 and 17, marking the anniversary of the establishment of the modern state of Bahrain as an Arab and Muslim country in 1783 by its founder Ahmed Al-Fateh, the 42nd Anniversary of its accession to the UN as a full member and the 14th Anniversary of HM’s Accession to the Throne.

The Parliament Speaker paid tribute to UAE Deputy Prime Minister, Presidency Affairs Minister and KBZF Chairman Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan for supporting the mass wedding project.
He also thanked KBZF director-general Mohammed Hajji Al-Khouri for attending the and supporting the wedding ceremony

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BNA 1919 GMT 2013/12/18