(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Ludovic Hood left the island nation Thursday. During his final days in Bahrain, Hood was given security protection equal to that of an ambassador, U.S. officials said. "It is unacceptable that elements within Bahrain would target an individual for carrying out his professional duties."
Hood's early departure from Bahrain - five human rights and U.S. officials confirmed that he had not been scheduled to leave Bahrain last week - underscores the serious tensions that have arisen between the U.S. government and Bahrain, the home port of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.
The campaign against Hood, however, had been going on for two months, State Department officials said, with one of the most virulent attacks coming May 7 in an anonymous posting on a pro-government website that included links to photos of Hood and his wife on their wedding day and information on where Hood and his family lived.
The posting claimed that the biggest single supporter of the anti-government demonstrations that began Feb. 14 was the political section of the U.S. Embassy, working "in cooperation" with a cell of the Lebanese Hezbollah militant movement.
The head of the office, the blog claimed, was "a person of Jewish origin named Ludovic Hood," and charged: "He's the one who trained and provoked the demonstrators to clash with the army" near the Pearl Roundabout that was the epicenter of the demonstrations.
The blogger called for "honest people to avenge" Hood's role, gave the neighborhood in which he lived with his family in Manama, the capital, and promised to provide his street address. It linked to a wedding photo of Hood with his "Jewish wife, Alisa Newman."
The attacks continued even after Hood left Bahrain, according to an official in Washington, with two newspapers on Monday targeting both Hood and the embassy's current top diplomat, Stephanie Williams.
The Arabic language website appears to have the approval of Bahrain's royal family. Called Bahrainforums.com, its homepage includes photos of Salman bin Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, Bahrain's crown prince, the country's prime minister, Prince Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, and of the king, Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa.
Khalifa bin Salman is the longest serving unelected prime minister in the world.
Human rights activists in Bahrain said that it is unlikely that under martial law imposed in mid-March a publication featuring the smiling faces of the royal family would be permitted if the regime did not approve.
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