Bahrain says senior U.S official persona non grata: BNA

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Bahrain says senior U.S official persona non grata: BNA

MANAMA Mon Jul 7, 2014 2:22pm EDT

(Reuters) - Bahrain on Monday declared a senior U.S. official persona non grata and asked him to leave the kingdom immediately, state news agency BNA said, because he had "intervened flagrantly" in the country's internal affairs.

BNA said that the foreign ministry had declared U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour, Tomasz Malinowski, persona non grata after he "held meetings with a particular party to the detriment of other interlocutors, thus discriminating between one people, contravening diplomatic norms and flouting normal interstate relations".

The latest move highlights the sensitivity in relations between the strategic allies. Bahrain is a U.S. ally in a volatile region and has long provided a base for the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet. But at the same it faces criticism over its record on human rights.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said she had heard the reports but said a team of diplomats, including Malinowski, remained in Bahrain and were working with the government.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/07/us-bahrain-usa-idUSKBN0FC20B20140707

[bemildred]

1. In Bahrain, Saudi Arabia sends the US a message

The Middle East has changed appreciably since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. The overthrow of the Saddam regime set in motion a protracted period of sectarian competition that only intensified eight years later during the Arab Spring. The United States tried to use the differences between the region’s Shia and Sunnis to create a new regional balance of power but now finds itself entangled with both sides.

The consequences of that entanglement are already starting to show. On July 7, Bahrain declared US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Tom Malinowski persona non grata. The Bahraini government claimed that Malinowski was meddling in its affairs by meeting with the head of the country’s largest Shiite group, Al Wefaq. The next day, Malinowski tweeted that he was expelled because Manama wanted to undermine the dialogue between the Sunni-led government and the largely Shiite political opposition.

His removal is no ordinary move. Bahrain is a close ally of Washington, and the US 5th Fleet is stationed there. Moreover, Malinowski is not even a diplomat stationed in Bahrain; he is an assistant secretary of state on an official visit to the country.

According to the State Department, Malinowski’s meeting with Al Wefaq had been arranged through the appropriate Bahraini authorities. For their part, the Bahrainis claim that Malinowski violated protocol.

http://www.manilatimes.net/in-bahrain-saudi-arabia-sends-the-us-a-message/110584/