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PLAN TO HOST BRITISH TROOPS

Bahrain ‘may play key anti-terror role’

MANAMA, September 11, 2014

Bahrain could be among three Gulf countries that will host British military forces, as part of a strategy to tackle growing threats from extremists operating in the region, a report said.

Plans to set up the new bases in the UAE, Bahrain and Oman are under discussion as the UK attempts to prevent the Islamic State (IS) from spreading across the Middle East, reported the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

A source from the British Defence Ministry said an infantry battalion stationed in Al Minhad airbase near Dubai will train alongside Emiratis, according to UK-based daily newspaper The Telegraph.

"The UAE, Oman and Bahrain are all being looked at as part of the government's attempts to contain the terror threat from the wider region," said the daily.

"The Al Minhad airbase near Dubai is already used by troops flying in and out of Afghanistan.

"It is understood that work began before the rise of IS and is part of a review of the UK's presence in the Gulf following the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan."

A ministry spokesman did not confirm the plans, but said defence officials were looking into military presence in the Gulf.

"The British military has maintained a constant presence in the Middle East since the 1980s and our armed forces routinely exercise with members of the GCC," he was quoted by the daily, which picked up the article from The Times.

"The ministry of defence is currently looking at its future engagement in the region including options for our military presence in the Gulf; this work is still in development and no final decisions have yet been made."

Meanwhile, International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) land warfare, defence and military analysis programme senior fellow Brigadier (retired) Ben Barry said Bahrain was an "obvious choice" for the British military to expand its presence in the Gulf, especially with the UK Maritime Forces head-quartered in Juffair.

"With its maritime headquarters in Bahrain and ships in the Gulf, Bahrain is obviously a choice, while the UK military relations with Oman date back to the 70s and the airbase in Dubai speak of ongoing relations with the UAE," he told the GDN from London.

"Additionally, the ministry and the armed forces are keen to do more engagement with strategic regions. The army has started assigning army brigades, focusing on the exercises in the Gulf with an aim to build better understanding with the countries. Hence this is a logical development."

However, Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis research and consultancy director Dr Theodore Karasik said setting up new bases in the GCC was not a solution to fight IS.

"Opening new bases is not a solution because it will make these states potential targets by IS sympathisers," the UAE-based expert told the GDN.

"There are already existing hubs that serve British and other foreign interests regarding the upcoming battle to degrade and destroy IS with air power and special operation forces."

Officials from the UK Maritime office in Bahrain did not respond when contacted by the GDN.

Foreign and defence ministers from 10 countries - UK US, Canada, Australia, Turkey, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark and Poland - met last week to agree an international strategy to counter the threat from IS and address the harm it has done to communities in Iraq and Syria. – TradeArabia News Service




Tags: Bahrain | Islamic State |

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