Bahrain first Arab state to blacklist Hezbollah

[Baluarte]

Hezbollah's alleged support, training of radical shi'ite groups against Bahrain is basis for decision, MP tells Al Arabiya.

Bahrain on Tuesday became the first Arab state to blacklist Hezbollah as a terrorist group, Al Arabiya reported.

According to the report the decision was based mainly on the Lebanese Shi'ite organization's alleged support and training of radical shi'ite groups against Bahrain.

“The measure is to protect Bahrain’s security and stability from Hezbollah’s threats,” Bahraini MP Adil al-Asoumi told Al Arabiya.

He stated that Hezbollah is not only a threat to Bahrain, but to the rest of the Gulf region, and called on “our Gulf brethren to confront the terrorist organization to secure Gulf security.”

He reportedly added that there is evidence that Hezbollah is instigating violence against the Bahraini government.

Also Tuesday, twelve Hezbollah members were killed and more than 20 others were wounded in an ambush near Damascus, Al Arabiya reported, citing sources close to the organization.

The Hezbollah armed brigade has reportedly been deployed in Syria to fight with forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The wounded were evacuated to a hospital in south Beirut, according to the report

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Heh, if anything, this is good publicity for Hezbollah.
No State has less legitimacy that the tyrannical emirate of the Al Khalifa, now 100% puppets of Saudi Arabia.

[Anglojew]

Excellent news

[Baluarte]

It's good to see you commenting positively about the GCC from time to time (shows not all Muslims are bad to you).
They make your dirty work in the Arab world, least you could do is be nice to them ^.^

[Philo]

It's good to see you commenting positively about the GCC from time to time (shows not all Muslims are bad to you).
They make your dirty work in the Arab world, least you could do is be nice to them ^.^

They don't give 2 shits about Israel. Hezoballah are their political and religous enemies. Shia VS Sunna. Simple as that.

[StonyArabia]

It's good news actually.

[GodAmongMen]

Hmm... I wonder if Al CIAda, Al Nusra front, and the "Free Syrian Army" are also blacklisted...

[Amun]

Bharain only did that because of the tensions between sunni royal family and the Shia majority in the country (they are estimated by 70%). Honestly i never understood the differences between Shias and Sunnis. Yes there are big doctrinal differences between the two, but at the end of the day we are on the same boat and if we (Iran and the rest of MENA) did not unit our efforts against our true enemies, We will be swallowed by Americans and their allies (see what happened in Iraq).

[Baluarte]

Sympathy with the Bahrainis

[Hurrem sultana]

Bharain only did that because of the tensions between sunni royal family and the Shia majority in the country (they are estimated by 70%). Honestly i never understood the differences between Shias and Sunnis. Yes there are big doctrinal differences between the two, but at the end of the day we are on the same boat and if we (Iran and the rest of MENA) did not unit our efforts against our true enemies, We will be swallowed by Americans and their allies (see what happened in Iraq).

Iran has never been considered part of arab world,they are too proud for that

[Baluarte]

It seems the Al Khalifa do fear the influence of Hezbollah.

Mon May 27, 2013 10:47am EDT

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Bahrain bans political groups from contacting Hezbollah

(Reuters) - Bahrain on Monday banned political groups from making any contact with Lebanese militant movement Hezbollah, a day after the Gulf Arab state's foreign minister called the head of the Shi'ite Muslim group a "terrorist".

The move reflected sectarian tensions within Bahrain and across the Sunni Muslim-dominated Gulf region stoked since 2011 by Syria's civil war, and exacerbated further after Hezbollah's leader openly acknowledged it was fighting on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's side against mainly Sunni rebels.

"Political associations are banned from making any kind of contact with the Lebanese Hezbollah organization, for it (is) a terrorist organization," the official Bahrain news agency BNA quoted an order issued by the justice and Islamic affairs minister, Sheikh Khaled bin Ali al-Khalifa, as saying.

Bahrain, a majority Shi'ite country but ruled by the Sunni al Khalifa family, has been buffeted by political unrest since 2011 with mostly Shi'ite Bahrainis agitating for democratic reforms and more say in government.

Bahrain has accused Iran, Hezbollah's main backer, and the Lebanese Shi'ite militants of fanning the unrest. They both deny it, although Hezbollah has criticized the Manama government's security crackdowns on Shi'ite protesters.

The justice minister's statement did not say what action the government would take if any party failed to comply with the ban. Al Wefaq, the main Shi'ite opposition party in Bahrain, said it had no formal contact with Hezbollah.

"Contacts between Al Wefaq and Hezbollah do not exist," Al Wefaq member Hadi al-Moussawi told Reuters. "There is no cooperation between us. Our concerns are internal and do not require us to be in contact (with them)," he said.

Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa, in comments on Twitter on Sunday, branded Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah a "terrorist" after the Hezbollah leader proclaimed that his fighters would help deliver victory for Assad in Syria's war.

The minister's comments marked a departure from the traditional Arab view of Hezbollah as an important "resistance" force against Israel and showed how sectarian strains in the region have worsened over the war on Syria.

Hezbollah's increasing military involvement on the side of Assad, whose minority Alawite sect derives from Shi'ite Islam, has turned many Arabs who sympathize with the Syrian rebels against his movement.

An uprising broke out in Bahrain in early 2011 with thousands of people, mainly Shi'ites, taking to the streets. The Bahraini government soon crushed the revolt with help from other Sunni-led Gulf Arab states, but protests have persisted.

Bahrain's main opposition group suspended its participation in reconciliation talks with the government for two weeks, blaming the slow pace of talks and the raid on a top Shi'ite Muslim's cleric home.

(Reporting by Yara Bayoumy; editing by Sami Aboudi and Mark Heinrich)