Bahrain FM reiterates stance on Muslim Brotherhood

MANAMA

Bahraini Foreign Minister Khaled Bin Hamad Al Khalifa confirmed his government's antipathy towards Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood group, following statements attributed to the minister which he says were misquoted.

"My statements were clear and can't be twisted," Khaled said via Twitter following media reports on Thursday in which he was quoted as saying in Islamabad that Bahrain did not consider the Brotherhood a "terrorist group."

"I never said the Brotherhood wasn't a terrorist group," Al Khalifa stressed. "The Kingdom of Bahrain stands by its brothers in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in their resistance against the Brotherhood's [terrorist] plot."

Earlier this month, Bahrain joined Saudi Arabia and the UAE in their decision to withdraw their respective ambassadors from Qatar  to protest what they described as Qatar's alleged violation of a 2013 security pact.

But many observers have since linked the diplomatic crisis to Doha's perceived support for Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood.

Shortly afterward, Riyadh designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a "terrorist" group.

Last December, the Brotherhood was branded a "terrorist" organization by the army-installed interim government in Egypt.

The three Gulf States aligned against Qatar had been quick to welcome last summer's ouster of Morsi – Egypt's first freely elected president – by the military.

englishnews@aa.com.tr