Bahrain, Egypt share similar stances, says Al Rumaihi

Cairo:Terming His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s visit to Egypt as “a great visit,” Information Affairs Minister Ali bin Mohammed Al Rumaihi said that the visit reflected the advanced level of the deep-rooted Bahraini-Egyptian relations.

In an interview with the Cairo-based Al-Akhbar newspaper, the Minister stressed that HM the King’s visit, the fifth and the first official one since 2013, along with a delegation “confirms Bahrain and Egypt are one country with similar stances.”

He added that Egypt had always stood by Arab countries, citing its support to the Saudi-led Arab Coalition and the Islamic Alliance to Counter Terrorism.

To a question on whether Arab countries have proved their ability to deal with the challenges, Al Rumaihi replied that recent tangible and practical steps prove that inter-Arab cooperation is on the right track. “Attempts to cast doubt on Arabs’ ability to tackle challenges are baseless.”

Commenting on the situation of Arab media discourse, Al Rumaihi said that the Arab Information Ministers’ meeting next month will focus on ways to step up joint Arab action through unifying media discourse.

According to the Minister, terrorism has spread across the region due to the misuse of mass media and easy access to youngsters to exploit their conditions and recruit them to join terror groups.

He stressed the need to focus on protecting youth against destructive ideology caused by mainly by foreign interference, especially from Iran, and instil in them the concepts of belonging to the nation and Arab identity.

Replying to a question on ways to discuss an integrated vision to reach normal relation between the Arab region and Iran, Al Rumaihi said that normal and good relations between two parties require the goodwill of each of them.

“Bahrain respects its neighbours, and rejects interference in the policies of other countries. But Iran interferes continuously in its affairs, and we have enough evidence that prove its interference in Bahrain’s affairs. In 2013, we labelled Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation because of Iran’s stances, and recently Arab Interior Ministers and the GCC countries have done the same,” he said.

Commenting on the Arab-Iranian relations during the post-Iranian Revolution, Al Rumaihi stressed that the concepts of sectarian discrimination had never existed before 1979. He noted that the results of the attempts to fragment the region through these sectarian concepts were clear in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, and that attempts to hijack Yemen had failed thanks to the Saudi-led Operation Decisive Storm.

Regarding Bahrain’s ways of dealing with the scarcity of resources amid the current economic crisis, Al Rumaihi remarked that the Kingdom had launched the Economic Vision, 2030 many years ago in a bid to be prepared for the post-oil period, and that the Economic Development Board (EDB) is trying to create new sources of income.