Bahrain smashes 5-man terror cell
MANAMA — Bahrain announced yesterday it had broken up a terror ring of five people possibly linked to Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network.
The five suspects are all Bahrainis and were arrested three days ago, a senior Bahraini official said.
Authorities are trying to “establish if the cell is linked to groups inside or outside Bahrain,” the official added in a reference to the Al Qaeda network.
The identification of the cell members appeared to point to a connection with Bin Laden supporters.
“Bahraini security forces broke up a cell that had been plotting terrorist acts ... targeting the kingdom’s national interests and endangering the lives of innocent citizens,” said an official spokesman, quoted by the state BNA news agency.
It was the first time the kingdom had announced the arrest of Bahraini “terrorists” on its soil since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Mukhtar Al Bakri, a US citizen of Yemeni descent allegedly connected to Al Qaeda, gave himself up to US authorities here in September last year and was transferred to the United States.
Security forces “seized arms and ammunition” which members of the cell “planned to use to carry out terrorist acts against the security of the country and its citizens,” the spokesman said.
The senior Bahraini official said pistols, machineguns and ammunition intended to be used “against Bahraini interests” were found in the group’s possession. The arrest of one member led to the arrest of the others, he added.
The official spokesman identified the members of the cell as Mohieddin Mahmud Mohieddin Khan, born in Lebanon in 1961; Bassam Abderrazzak Abdullah Bukhua, born in 1970; Bassam Yussef Abdelkarim Ali, 1956; Issa Abdullah Abderrahman Al Baluchi, born in the Saudi city of Al Khobar in 1972; and Jamal Hilal Mohammed Al Baluchi, 1965.
The suspects are being questioned to establish “if they are affiliated to specific political organisations or were operating in an isolated manner,” the spokesman said.
Authorities did not disclose the targets which the group allegedly planned to attack.
The daily Al Wassat said one of the suspects had two stints in Afghanistan, the last in 1986.
News of the arrests follows an announcement by the United States that it was cutting down its diplomatic presence in Bahrain, where more than 5,000 Americans, mostly military, reside.
On Wednesday, the United States said it was allowing non-essential US embassy personnel to leave Bahrain, as well as neighbouring Qatar, at government expense amid fears of possible terror attacks as Washington steps up a massive military build-up in the Gulf in preparation for an anticipated invasion of Iraq. — AFP