‘Bahrain’s Hezbollah’

Bahrain charged 169 people yesterday for forming ‘Bahrain’s Hezbollah’, a local version of the armed group, which prosecutors said was trained and backed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

Bahrain will put 169 terror suspects on trial on October 3 for their links with ‘Hezbollah Bahrain’, the kingdom’s chief of Terror Crime Prosecution Dr. Ahmad Al Hammadi has said.

The suspects, 111 of whom are in custody, will be tried at the High Criminal Court for forming and joining a terrorist organisation, causing blasts, attempted murder, and training in the use of weapons and explosives.

Other charges cited by the prosecution include making, possessing and using incendiary devices, and weapons and funding a terror group, hiding weapons and ammunition and damaging public and private property.

According to the prosecution, Iranian leaders had ordered Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to bring together the elements of the various terror groups and organisations in Bahrain to form a single unit to be called ‘Hezbollah Bahrain’.

The process included meetings between the Revolutionary Guards and leaders of Bahrain groups based in Iran and provision of technical, logistical and financial support. Elements who had military training were assigned to recruit new members in order to replace terrorists who had been arrested, the prosecution said.