US, British Advisors Supervising Suppression of People in Bahrain – Bahrain Freedom Movement

A leading member of Bahrain’s Islamic Action Society (Jamaiyyat al-Amal al-Islami) Hashem al-Sabbaq said that American and British military and security advisors are supervising the training courses of Bahraini security forces for suppressing the protesting people. He lashed out at the Western and Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) countries for supporting the Al Khalifa regime. “These countries are clearly interfering in the domestic affairs of Bahrain, specially in security and intelligence cases,” Sabbaq told Al Alam TV network on Tuesday. In December 2011, the British government admitted in a written report to the parliament that some 130 British troops were stationed in Bahrain at the start of renewed pro-democracy protests in the Arab country. “There were 130 military personnel stationed in Bahrain in March 2011, the majority in the UK Maritime Component Command,” Defense Minister Lord Astor said in a written parliamentary reply published at the time. Also in 2011, the UK government admitted that members of the Saudi Arabian National Guard sent into Bahrain may have received military training from the British Armed Forces. 

“It is possible that some members of the Saudi Arabian National Guard which were deployed in Bahrain may have undertaken some training provided by the British military mission,” Armed Forces Minister Nick Harvey said.