Call for Qatar to ‘release’ Haddad and companions

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strongly condemned the Qatari coast guard’s arrest of Bahraini bodybuilding champion Sami Al Haddad while he was on a fishing cruise with a number of his companions in the Bahraini territorial waters.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the Qatari authorities to immediately release Mr Al Haddad and his companions and to stop attacking Bahraini fishermen at sea and unfairly arresting them.

On Saturday, Media Advisor to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Nabil Al Hamar, said that Qatar had arrested Al Haddad during a fishing trip. In a statement on his Twitter account, Al Hamar said that this incident comes within the systematic campaign launched by Qatar against Bahraini sailors, indicating that this is a clear breach of the Gulf peace agreement concluded at the Al-Ula summit in Saudi Arabia.

Qatar signed the statement of solidarity at the historic Al-Ula summit held between the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and it was agreed on reconciliation between the Gulf states and ending the boycott of Qatar.

‘Long suffering’

Bahraini fisherman Yussef Khamees Al Alaiwi has recounted his long-suffering as a result of the practices of the Qatar Coast Guards and Border Security patrols that have constantly targeted his life and livelihood, as well as those other Bahraini fishermen.

He said that he had paid the equivalent of BD25,000 to the Qatari authorities as fine in five cases, adding that some Bahraini fishermen had to stop their boats and sell them because of the practices of the Qatari Coast Guards and Border Security patrols.

He indicated that they had to take loans in order to pay the fines, recover their fishing vessels and release those arrested in Qatar, adding that the patrols used to arrest them, take them to Doha, and refer them to trial.

The patrols also used to confiscate the arrestees’ fish, sell it for QR20,000 or QR30,000, and take the amounts for themselves, he added. Recalling one of his experiences with the Qatari authorities, Al Alaiwi said that they once smashed the sides of his boat and did not allow him to take it back to Bahrain, adding that he was able to recover it and repair it in Bahrain only after paying the fines to them.