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Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdul Latef Al Zayani said on Sunday that Manama was “truly looking forward” to working with Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu and his prospective government. Both Zayani and Netanyahu are signatories to the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Bahrain and Israel in September 2020. Zayani noted that Manama was seeking “to continue working on the successful achievements” with Israel, and emphasized his conviction that Netanyahu believes in peace, according to Israeli media. President Isaac Herzog on Sunday became the first Israeli head of state to make an official visit to Bahrain, beginning a two-day trip that...

The Obama administration may not be lending arms to dissidents in the Middle East, but it is offering aid in another critical way: helping them surf the Web anonymously as they seek to overthrow their governments. Federal agencies - such as the State Department, the Defense Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors - have been funding a handful of technology firms that allow people to get online without being tracked or to visit news or social media sites that governments have blocked. Many of these little-known organizations - such as the Tor Project and UltraReach- are unabashedly supportive of...

Policies of “engagement” with hostile powers are always risky, and frequently lead to embarrassment, as Hillary Clinton discovered last weekend in Bahrain. Foreign Policy.com has a revealing article today detailing the Secretary of State’s futile attempts to greet Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki at the 2010 IISS Manama Security Dialogue, where she was the featured speaker. According to Foreign Policy’s report: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tried to speak with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki twice on Friday, pursuing him both inside and outside the gala dinner here at the Ritz Carlton in Manama. But Mottaki deliberately avoided contact...

Bearded Woman Tries to Preach in Mosque Thu Nov 18,11:29 PM ET MANAMA, Bahrain - A big, bearded cleric caught the eye of a mosque official as he approached the stand to deliver the sermon, the chief imam at Bahrain's largest mosque recalled Thursday. The official asked the cleric what he wanted to do. The cleric replied he was going to give the Friday sermon. But his voice was strangely soft and his beard slipped as he spoke, imam Sheik Adnan al-Qattan told The Associated Press. The "cleric" was a woman in disguise, and when the official blocked her path,...

Bahrain expels Iraq diplomat for alleged blast link MANAMA, April 2 (Reuters) - Bahrain on Wednesday expelled an Iraqi diplomat it accused of having links to a blast that occurred near a U.S. Navy base in the capital Manama last week. The official Bahrain News Agency said the foreign ministry asked Iraqi First Secretary Nadim Jawad Ali to leave the kingdom because of his alleged ties to an Iraqi man suspected of carrying out the March 24 blast. There was no immediate comment from the Iraqi embassy. A small cooking gas cylinder exploded near the gateway of the headquarters of...

US orders military’s families to leave Bahrain Bloomberg DUBAI – The US ordered out the families of military personnel in Bahrain, its naval base in the Persian Gulf, and recommended most embassy staff and their families leave the country because of a possible terrorist attack. The decision by the US Department of Defense will affect about 650 of the 4,500 people attached to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, the fleet’s spokesman, Commander James Graybeal, said in a telephone interview from the capital, Manama. The US State Department will pay for most embassy staff and their families to exit the country,...

<p>Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. today said it received a ``specific'' threat of a terrorist attack in the Persian Gulf country of Bahrain, Agence France-Presse reported.</p> <p>The warning was issued by the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Manama, and covers the period through Jan. 2, AFP said.</p>