Five held as Bahrain breaks up terror cell

BAHRAIN said yesterday it had broken up a terrorist cell planning to “target” its interior ministry.

The Bahrain government said that the cell also planned to target the Saudi embassy and a causeway linking the island state with neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

It added that the cell had been broken up and its members captured.

Four Bahraini members of the cell were detained by authorities in neighbouring Qatar after they entered the Gulf Arab state from Saudi Arabia, the state news agency BNA quoted an interior ministry spokesman as saying.

The four had documents and a computer that included details on vital installations.

“The Qatari security authorities questioned the suspects and inquiries in Qatar revealed that the suspects had illegally left Bahrain after being incited by others to head to Iran, passing through Qatar and Syria, to establish a group that carries out armed terrorist operations in Bahrain against vital establishments and individuals,” BNA reported.

“Inquiries to date have confirmed that the suspects were targeting the King Fahd Causeway, the ministry of interior building, the Saudi Arabia embassy and individuals,” it added.

The agency said the four carried unspecified sums of foreign currency, including US dollars and Iranian rials, and had flights booked to Syria.

BNA said the four suspects gave information about a fifth member of the group in Bahrain, who was also arrested.

Bahrain was rocked earlier this year by unrest led by majority Shi’ite Muslims demanding reforms and an end to sectarian discrimination in the Sunni-led island state, where the US Fifth Fleet is based.