Bahrain summons Iraqi ambassador over banned group

Bahrain’s foreign minister summoned the Iraqi ambassador to the country on Wednesday to hand him an official letter of protest over a banned Shiite group that the kingdom said received training in Iraq.

Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa summoned ambassador Ahmed Rasheed al-Dalimi after it was proven that the Saraya al-Ashtar group received training on the use of arms and explosives in Iraq, a message posted by the ministry on Twitter said.

The minister urged Iraq to put an end to “terrorist groups” that use Iraq to threaten the safety of Bahrain.

Bahrain had said on Sunday it had broken up the banned anti-government Shiite Muslim group behind a series of attacks and arrested several of its members.

It said it had arrested 12 members of the group while two of its leaders were in Iran.

Bahrain also said the two leaders in Iran had facilitated travel to Iraq for three other members of the group for training in weapons use, hostage-taking and bomb-making with the Shiite Hezbollah Brigades. It said these three men had been arrested and had confessed.

Sunni-ruled Bahrain accuses Shiite Muslim Iran of fomenting unrest among Bahrain’s mostly Shiite opposition. Iran denies the accusation, but does champion the Shiite majority’s cause.