Bahrain decries Iraqi claim of ‘an ugly crime’ in execution of three bombers

Bahrain’s foreign ministry has summoned Iraq’s ambassador in Manama to protest against Iraqi officials’ remarks that denounced the execution of three men convicted of a bomb attack that killed an Emirati policeman and two Bahraini officers in 2014.

Iraqi vice president Nouri Al Maliki called the execution “an ugly crime” and said it put the Bahraini government in a position where the international community accused it of systematically killing its opponents.

Bahrain’s foreign ministry said Mr Al Maliki’s remarks and comments by the Iraqi foreign ministry spokesman were an “unacceptable interference” in Manama’s internal affairs.

Bahrain said the executions were carried out after a long judicial process that convicted the three men, Abbas Al Samea, 27, Sami Mushaima, 42, and Ali Al Singace, 21.

“The undersecretary of regional and GCC affairs, ambassador Waheed Mubarak Sayyar, asserted the kingdom of Bahrain’s condemnation and its deep rejection of the remarks ... and demanded they be conveyed to the Iraqi government,” Bahrain’s state news agency said on Monday.

Bahrain recently accused Iraqi groups of providing military training and support to militants behind bomb attacks that killed several policemen in recent years. Relations between Baghdad and its Arab neighbours have been frosty since US forces toppled Sunni president Saddam Hussein in 2003 and put in place a Shiite-led government.