UK official condemns “evidence of direct violence” in Bahrain

“I think, basically, we view a settled Bahrain in the camp of those countries with which we want to be friends,” David Howell, minister of state at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, told Arabian Business during a trip to the UAE. 

“But we can’t just condone and tick the box over evidence of direct violence against protesting citizens – that’s something that I’m afraid we can’t agree to.”

The message comes as Bahrain lifts the state of emergency it imposed in mid-March. Tanks and soldiers left the centre of Manama on Wednesday, after a period of anti-government protests left at least 30 people dead.

“What has gone on is not very attractive. We don’t want to see anything more develop in that direction,” Howell added.

“We have said again and again and again that we want to see dialogue between the Bahraini government and the protestors. And that if there are arguments to be had out, let them be had out, but in a peaceful way.”

Howell was visiting several Gulf countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait – but not Bahrain – on a Middle Eastern tour.

He described meetings with Saudi officials, including Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the governor of Riyadh, as “constructive”, although he admitted that there “may be certain disagreements on the pace of reform.

“On the whole, relations [with Saudi Arabia] are pretty good, but the pace of reform, it’s difficult, and our assessments of what’s going right and what’s going wrong and how regimes should develop probably is slightly different, but not very different,” Howell said.

The minister also said that the UK was “concerned about the whole pattern of the Arab Spring”.

“We do want to see regimes and patterns of government reform steadily towards greater freedoms,” he added. “We do want to see this done in ways that are peaceful and without bloodshed and violence.”