The Rumors of Bahrain's FM against Iran: in the "Nuclear" Era!

In the "Nuclear Agreement" era, Bahrain's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Khalid Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa continues to spread false information and videos against Iran. The "Bahraini Law"; however, knows nothing but the Yemen wartime.

Nabeel Rajab, the human rights defender, was arrested over charges of broadcasting rumors in "war" time by publishing photos of victims of the Saudi aggression against Yemen. Khalid Bin Ahmed is; however, totally immune from being held accountable for posting (on Twitter) what was officially announced as false information, since he's a member of the ruling Al Khalifa family.

A rumor, spread by the minister saying that Kuwait seized explosive materials heading from Iran to Bahrain, stirred up a wave of reactions against him after Bahrain's ministry of interior officially denied the news.

Khalid Al Khalifa praised, on his Twitter account, what he described as "the awareness of the security and customs officers in Kuwait" for discovering "explosive bombs coming into Bahrain". This came after he posted a video on Twitter showing someone who claimed to be a Kuwaiti customs employee saying that the Kuwaiti authorities seized explosive materials heading from Iran to Bahrain. The ministry of interior; however, issued a statement later on announcing that it had contacted Kuwaiti authorities and the confiscated materials turned out to be only "cleaning products".

The FM's tweet was retweeted more than a 1,000 times. Strangely enough, the minister refused to delete the tweet and only posted the statement denying the news saying that deleting it "won't be of use" now.  Although the tweet garnered over 400 retweets, even after denying the news, some people are still using it and considering it to be true information, confirmed by an official.

The FM's Tweet Instigates Attacks against Bahraini Shiites

The Foreign Minister's tweet (the false rumor) was not only "a threat to civil peace", but also a root for calls of sectarian clashes, inciting hatred against Shiites, rooting them out, let alone accusing a major neighboring country of false allegations by a senior diplomat who did his best to return the Iranian ambassador to Bahrain, but failed to do so.

Tens of pro-regime tweeters responded to the tweet and the Twitter account of one of Bahrain's officials, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, has become a new platform that openly incites launching attacks against Shiites in Bahrain, accusing them of working for Iran and promoting hatred against them, suppressing and rooting them out by pro-regime tweeters. All of this happened on the FM's account who has more than 200 thousand followers on Twitter.

Al Wefaq's former MP, Ali Al-Aswad tweeted: "Ministers in respected countries post on "Twitter" to show the successes and progress in politics, economy and security. We have never witnessed anyone who "babbles" about matters he knows about "or" does not know".

Al-Aswad's tweet led to a response by the minister, craving to appear on Twitter: "Are you against the communication between those who assume responsibility and citizens? Or is it something else?"

Al-Aswad answered, "I stand for communication in order to build confidence and push the wheel of development, but I am against spreading news and accusations that damage our relationships with neighboring countries."

The minister did not only have a quarrel with the opposition tweeters, for they found themselves under attack by tens of pro-regime tweeters. BAHRAINDOCTOR account considered that the minister thrives to spread such news and demanded him to delete them.

Khalid Al-Khalifa replied to "BAHRAINDOCTOR" by saying: "Deleting the tweet is of no use. I bear the responsibility of the statement I posted. When the statement denying the news emerged, I also posted it and if the news changes again I will also post it." However, BAHRAINDOCTOR wondered: "How do you say that deleting a tweet is of no use although you supported demolishing LouLou Roundabout because it represented a bad memory for you?"

Enforcing the Law

Yousif Al-Muhafdah, the Vice President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, interfered in the ongoing dispute saying: "The Ministers of Interior, Foreign Affairs, Development and Justice all spread false news and have not yet been held accountable." Thus, the minister replied: "Why don't you make a complaint and file a lawsuit?"

Al-Muhafdah decided to respond to the ruling family by saying: "Oh minister, your family appoints the judiciary, which has become a tool for political repression in Bahrain. How could the appointer hold his appointees accountable?" Meanwhile, the minister claimed that the law treats everyone fairly.

Al-Muhafdah Ended the Debate with the Following Tweet:

ASADALBAHRAIN wrote to the minister: "False news is punishable by the law. What you said threatens civil peace and provokes others to do the same thing." ASADALBAHRAIN wondered: "Does the law apply to you, minister?"

As for the media activist, Faisal Hayyat, he said: "When false news cause further aggravation... the one who caused the disarray should be held accountable."

The minister; however, did not consider what he posted threatens civil peace. He also deemed himself a victim of the disarray caused by the tweeters.

BAHRAINDOCTOR responded to the minister: "Is it possible to deal with the case of Nabeel Rajab in the same sense? That is he is one of the victims of disarray and tweeted the information he received?"

Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, was arrested over charges of "insulting a governmental institution and broadcasting rumors in wartime (Yemen)" for posting photos- the authority claims are fabricated- of the outcome and victims of the military campaign led by Saudi Arabia against Yemen.

However, the minister, who spread false news, accusing Iran of supporting terrorism and ended his tweet with the phrase "terrorism continues", considered what Nabeel Rajab has stirred was more dangerous and that his case is being looked into by the law.

The truth, as Yousif Al-Muhafdah sees it, is that the law does not apply to members of the Al Khalifa family nor their allies, adding that: "The video showing the PM with the officer Bin Huwail proves this."

The Minister of Foreign Affairs is not the only one involved in spreading false news, for the Minister of Justice, Khalid Bin Ali Al Khalifa, and the former Minister of Social Development, Fatima Al-Balooshi, were also involved in charging the medics of 2011 in performing unnecessary surgeries and seizing weapons in Al-Salmaniya Medical Complex.

If senior officials deal with dangerous information in this manner and assume all the information they receive to be true, then this raises serious questions regarding the information disclosed by the authorities about the "Qatar Cell" or seizing explosive materials in a bag that came from Iraq and other cells and confiscations.



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