State Dept praises Bahrain’s counter-terrorism initiatives

The Country Reports on Terrorism 2018, issued by US State Department on November 1, affirmed Bahrain’s remarkable success in combating terrorism and drying up its funding sources, despite the increase in terrorist threats to the region, which represents an international recognition of the Kingdom’s anti-terror efforts and a new achievement that adds to its rich record in this regard.

While highlighting the Kingdom’s success, the report said that in 2018, Bahrain had made gains in detecting and containing foreign-backed terrorist threats, praising its success in exposing Iran-backed terrorist groups to the world. The Kingdom’s success was evident in the US designation of Al Ashtar Brigades and other Iran-backed terrorist elements in the US terror list. The report also said that in January, 2018, “Al Ashtar Brigades” had revealed new logo similar to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ design (IRGC), which proves this terrorist organisation’s close relationship with the terrorist Revolutionary Guard.

It also highlighted the Kingdom’s anti-terror success, citing the remarkable decrease in terrorist attacks against security forces. The report revealed that no terror attacks had been recorded in Bahrain in 2018 thanks to the efforts of the government and the vigilance of the security personnel. It did confirm that the Kingdom had held parliamentary and municipal elections in a peaceful and secure atmosphere.

The report also lauded the tolerance and co-existence discourse adopted by the Kingdom, noting that it had contributed to reducing the sectarian discourse. In this regard, it praised the Ministry of Interior’s launch of the National Plan to Promote the Spirit of Belonging to the Nation and Reinforce the Values of Nationalism (Bahrainuna) in March, 2018, as well as the community partnership initiatives adopted by the same ministry.

The report also stressed that the Government had carried on its efforts to adopt a national CVE strategy in line with the UN’s “Preventing Violent Extremism Plan of Action”, praising in the regard the Alternative Punishment Law as a mechanism intended to reduce harsh punishments for minor crimes. It also shed light on other initiatives taken by the government, including the Community Police.

Regarding regional and international co-operation in combating terrorism, the report said that the Kingdom is a member of the Saudi-led Arab Coalition to restore Legitimacy in Yemen, an active member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, and the Arab League. It also said that the Bahraini government had attended several conferences related to multilateral counterterrorism co-operation in 2018, and continued to “offer its support for countering Iran’s malfeasance in the region, and contributed to UN reporting under UNSCR 2231”.  

The US State Department’s report highlighted Bahrain’s efforts in countering the financing of terrorism through its membership in the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF), and its FIU is a member of the Egmont Group, as well as its membership in the Riyadh-based Terrorist Financing Targeting Centre (TFTC), the Defeat Daesh Coalition’s Counter-Daesh Finance Group, in addition to its participation in the Egmont Group’s Counter Daesh project.

“The MENAFATF and FATF jointly completed its Mutual Evaluation Report of Bahrain in June; the report contained several recommendations to enhance its AML/CFT regimes,” the report said. The report did mention Bahrain’s efforts to consolidate its legal structure to counter terrorism funding through adapting its national laws to international ones.