Britain’s Prince Charles inaugurated the Naval Support
Facility (NSF) in the Bahrain, marking the 200th anniversary of mutual
relations with the Arab kingdom. The UK plans to make the £30-million base its second
busiest center of operations for the Royal Navy after Portsmouth, allowing its
warships to resupply and undergo repair in the region without having to return
to the UK.
In a visit to London last month, Bahrain’s monarch King
Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah called for closer ties between the two kingdoms as he
met with Queen Elizabeth, Prime Minister Theresa May and other British
officials.
The repressive Al Khalifah regime is under international
pressure to end its years-long crackdown on a popular uprising. Thousands of
anti-regime protesters have held numerous demonstrations in Bahrain on an
almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the country on
February 14, 2011. The protesters demand that the Al Khalifah dynasty
relinquish power. Scores of people have lost their lives and hundreds of others
sustained injuries or got arrested as a result of the regime’s crackdown.
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