Dubai - Bahrain floated the idea of expanding military bases within a bloc of Sunni-led Gulf Arab allies that helped it quash Shi'a protests in March, while United States President Barack Obama criticised Manama over its crackdown.
Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid al-Khalifa said fear of Shi'ite Iran interfering in Bahrain may push the Gulf Co-operation Council to revise its military presence in Bahrain instead of pulling out when emergency law, imposed in March, ends on June 1.
“Any threat that any country would face would definitely, no doubt, affect its neighbours. Saudi Arabia is only 28km away from here. We are looking at the GCC force to be expanded, to have multi-bases everywhere in the GCC,” he said in an interview with PBS Newshour.
“So whether they leave or stay or be restructured, that's what is to be discussed in the future,” he said.
Bahrain's Sunni rulers imposed emergency law and called in troops from neighbouring Gulf countries in March to quash protests led mostly by its Shi'a majority, who are demanding democratic reforms. Some hardliners had called for a republic.
Obama on Thursday criticised the crackdown, saying that “mass arrests and brute force” were at odds with the universal rights of Bahrain's citizens, and would not make legitimate calls for reform disappear.
“The only way forward is for the government and opposition to engage in a dialogue, and you can't have a real dialogue when parts of the peaceful opposition are in jail,” Obama said in a Middle East speech.
“Bahrain is a long-standing partner, and we are committed to its security,” Obama said. “We recognise that Iran has tried to take advantage of the turmoil there, and that the Bahraini government has a legitimate interest in the rule of law.”
Non-Arab Shi'a Iran, just across Gulf waters, has issued several statements condemning the GCC troops' presence in the country. Bahraini Shi'ites insist they have no ties to Iran. - Reuters