Bahrain rebuffs reports of sending troops to Syria

Bahrain’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa yesterday denied the reports by Reuters attributed to him regarding the Kingdom of Bahrain’s decision to send ground troops to take part in the ongoing military operations in Syria.

Reuters quoted Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa on Friday as saying that “Bahrain is ready to commit ground troops to Syria as part of a US-led coalition against Islamic State.”

The report claimed that the statements came to support similar statements made by Saudi Arabia the day before, confirming that it was ready to participate in any ground operations in Syria if the US-led alliance decides to start such operations.

However, a few hours after the report was out, Shaikh Fawaz denied it on his official Twitter page, stating, “Reuters’ report isn’t correct.”

Besides, the official State news agency, Bahrain News Agency (BNA) reported: “The Kingdom of Bahrain’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa has denied remarks attributed to him by a news agency, regarding the situation in Syria.” “The Ambassador stressed that these remarks were inaccurate and reiterated the Kingdom of Bahrain’s commitment to fighting terrorism alongside its allies,” it added. 

As reported yesterday, Reuters claimed that Shaikh Fawaz stated that “Bahrain would commit troops to operate in concert with the Saudis under what he called a unified military command of GCC States,” adding that “the Saudi initiative in Syria was meant to combat both Islamic State and the brutal Assad regime, a reference to President Bashar Al Assad.”