Bahrain Interior Minister cuts short Italy visit
Manama, November 6, 2012
Bahrain's Interior Minister has decided to cut short his official visit to Italy and return home "to follow up implications of explosions in Manama on Monday", said a ministry message.
Two people were killed and one was critically injured in a string of explosions in Manama yesterday morning. Four homemade explosive devices were concealed in garbage bins, while one was placed under a car being repaired at a garage.
"What happened in Bahrain was a terror act and major part of our work focuses on chasing those terrorists," said Lieutenant-General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al-Khalifa in a Twitter post on the ministry page.
He said negotiation cannot be carried out with terrorists and talks cannot take place "within this violence".
The minister was in Italy to attended a session of the Interpol general assembly.
Earlier, His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa directed police to track down terrorists behind the explosions, a report in the Gulf Daily News, our sister newspaper said.
Chairing a work meeting, the Premier called for instigators and masterminds of the terror blasts to be brought to justice. "The killers will not get away with their heinous crime," he said, strongly condemning the blasts.
He also gave instructions to step up security measures to prevent terrorists from achieving their despicable designs, stressing that Bahrain will always be unyielding.
The Premier extended heartfelt condolences to the victims' families, wishing the injured a quick recovery.
The government, he said, will never allow chaos, sabotage and terror to be sown, vowing zero tolerance in confronting criminals, saboteurs and terrorists.
He pledged to take all necessary measures to ensure people's safety, assuring citizens, residents and the expatriate communities that their protection is the government's responsibility.
The Premier was updated on recent incidents in different areas of the country and he vowed to root out the terror scourge "which is alien to sane Bahraini society.
"There can be no compromise or give-and-take when it comes to Bahrain's security," he said, adding that legal measures would be taken against terrorists.
He described the terror masterminds as a deviant few who sold their souls and decided to become tools of destruction, with blood on their hands.
He urged all civil society institutions to join ranks with the government in its efforts to combat terror and eradicate its abominable culture.
Meanwhile, Public Security chief Major-General Tariq Al Hassan said several suspects linked to the explosions had been identified.
"We have identified a number of suspects and are looking to arrest them, but it is too early to say where they are," he said.
"We have also concluded that high-intensity Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were used for the attack."
Maj-Gen Al Hassan confirmed five separate explosions took place and said police patrols had been intensified in several areas.
Police revealed a Bahraini called 999 at 4.31am to say a street cleaner had been injured in an explosion near the Dilmun School in Adliya.
The victim, Indian Dhanna Ram Saini, 34, was taken to hospital and officers also found a second device around 15 metres from the location of the initial blast.
A controlled detonation of the object was performed and no one else was injured.
At 5.47am, another 999 call was received reporting an explosion near the GSF supermarket in Gudaibiya, which killed Indian Thirunavukarasu Murugaiyan, 29.
Then at around 7.50 am a resident called police to say his car had been damaged by an explosion opposite the Gudaibiya police station.
Report of a fourth explosion, near the Awal Cinema in Gudaibiya, was received at 8.55am. Bangladeshi Shajib Mian Shukur Mian, 33, was killed in the attack.
Then at around 9.24am, a 999 call was received from a resident who reported hearing an explosion in the vicinity of Zubara Road in Hoora, which damaged three cars.
Maj-Gen Al Hassan said investigators were trying to determine whether the explosions were connected to the bomb that killed a policeman in Eker last month. - TradeArabia News Service
