Bahrain

23 Feb 2022; MEMO: A senior official from Bahrain's Foreign Ministry revealed on Monday that the Israeli foreign intelligence agency Mossad is "present" in the Gulf state.

Sheikh Abdulla Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, Bahrain's undersecretary for political affairs, made the announcement in the presence of Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz in Germany at the Munich Security Conference.

"There is intelligence cooperation between Bahrain and Israel. The Mossad is in Bahrain and they're present in the region," Al-Khalifa said.

17 Feb 2022; MEMO: The Israeli Navy participated in the International Maritime Exercise (IMX) in the Red Sea region and the territorial waters of Bahrain, according to the Israeli army on Thursday and Anadolu News Agency reports.

Led by the US Fifth Fleet, IMX is the largest international naval exercise with fleets of about 60 countries and international organisations taking part.

10 Feb 2022; MEMO: Israel will sell radars and anti-drone systems to Bahrain, BATS, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), said yesterday.

03 Feb 2022; MEMO: Israel and Bahrain signed a security cooperation agreement on Thursday, the first between Israel and a Gulf nation, during a visit by the Israeli Defence Minister to the Kingdom amid heightened tensions in the region, Reuters reports.

Bahrain, along with the United Arab Emirates, normalised relations with Israel in 2020 under the US-brokered Abraham Accords, partly out of shared concerns about Iran.

01 Feb 2022; MEMO: A large maritime exercise kicked off in Bahrain on Tuesday under the US Navy command, with the participation of 60 countries, including Israel, Anadolu News Agency reports.

"The Middle East region's largest maritime exercise, IMX/CE 2022, commenced 31 January, in the Kingdom of Bahrain," the US Central Command said on Twitter.

"The training will include 9,000 personnel and up to 50 ships from more than 60 partner nations and international organisations operating across two regions," it added.

MANAMA, Dec 10 (NNN-BNA) – Bahrain and Saudi Arabia yesterday signed key agreements, involving a Saudi investment of five billion U.S. dollars in development projects across Bahrain, according to an official statement.

The agreements came, during the second meeting of the Saudi-Bahraini Coordination Council, in Bahrain’s Sakhir Palace, co-chaired by Bahraini Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, and visiting Saudi Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.

MANAMA, Nov 20 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sought on Saturday to reassure allies in the Middle East that President Joe Biden's administration was committed to the region despite Washington increasingly turning its attention towards countering China.

It was unclear how much impact Austin's speech would have with Washington's allies in the Middle East, since it was not backed by any announcements of further deployments or new weapon sales in the region.

MANAMA, Sept 30 (NNN-BNA) – Bahrain, yesterday launched a fast sea-to-air logistic hub, which has a two-hour turnaround time for all containers, the kingdom’s transportation ministry said.

The “Bahrain Global Sea-Air Hub” can move goods at twice the speed and only 40 percent of the cost, comparing to the regular routes, the ministry said.

The launch of the hub makes better use of Bahrain’s strategic position, midway between Europe and Asia, as well as, its proximity to regional markets.

16 Sep 2021; MEMO: Bahrain has released 30 prisoners conditionally, including 27 political prisoners, under legislation allowing electronic monitoring and house arrest instead.

Under the 2017 "alternative sentence" law, prisoners who have served at least half their sentence in jail are allowed to complete it in other ways, including community service, rehabilitation courses and electronic surveillance. Last week, the King of Bahrain amended the law to allow a switch to non-custodial punishments at any point in a sentence.

15 Sep 2021; MEMO: A Bahraini opposition leader and Secretary-General of the Haq Movement for Liberty and Democracy, Hassan Mushaima, has rejected a conditional royal pardon to release him from prison, describing it as "humiliating" and reiterating his right to freedom without restriction.

In a letter circulated on social media yesterday, Mushaima stressed his refusal to waive any of his basic rights or accept preconditions in return for his release.