British Naval Base to hold security event

The British Naval Base will organise an event that aims to deter regional threats and maintain security in the Gulf, today at 2.30pm at the British facility in Mina Salman.

It will be attended by the British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and Bahrain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa. The establishment of the facilities is in line with the Bahraini-British defence agreement that aims at improving the onshore facilities at Bahrain’s Mina Salman port.

Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has started a four-nation tour that focuses on regional security and the challenges of extremism. During the visit, Hammond met the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to discuss regional security and the crisis in Syria, ahead of talks in Vienna yesterday.

Today, he will speak on extremism at the eleventh Manama Dialogue security summit being held in Bahrain and hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

The Foreign Secretary will discuss a range of issues with leaders in the region, emphasising the need to work together to maintain national security both in the UK and across the Gulf.

He will also highlight continued commitment to a military presence in the Gulf.

During the Gulf visit, the Foreign Secretary will also discuss the ongoing conflict in Yemen. As usual on all visits, he will raise consular cases, including current Saudi judicial cases, a UK-government press releases stated.