“The attack on the British embassy (on Tuesday) is not acceptable. The kingdom of Bahrain will not be lenient about this,” Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifah said, quoted by the BNA state news agency. “The kingdom is committed to protecting foreign missions.”
Al Ayam newspaper said police had arrested a man after an explosive device was thrown at the embassy, without causing any casualties or damage.
In London, the Foreign Office confirmed the report.
“We confirm that a small Molotov cocktail was thrown into the compound of the British embassy in Bahrain on the March 16. No one was hurt. We have got good relations with Bahrain and are working to resolve this issue,” it said.
The attack came amid calls from Sunni groups to kick out British ambassador Jamie Bowden following his meeting with Al Wefaq association, the largest political association of the Shia majority in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.
The Gulf Arab state criticised the meeting as foreign meddling in its domestic affairs, in a country rife with sectarian tension.
Hundreds of Bahrain activists have called for Bowden’s expulsion, the Gulf News reported yesterday.
“We condemn the interference of the British ambassador in our domestic affairs and demand that the authorities expel him from the country,” some 240 community leaders said in a petition, according to the Dubai-based paper.
“The ambassador has not respected international and diplomatic laws and traditions and has clearly abused the sovereignty of the kingdom,” they said.
Bahrain’s largest Shia parliamentary bloc is demanding the cabinet be chosen by its elected parliament, sparking a row with Sunni politicians.
The Al Wefaq bloc, with 17 of 40 seats in the assembly, said last month that the power sharing envisioned in Bahrain’s constitution had not yet been sufficiently brought to life.
This drew harsh criticism from Sunni politicians, one of whom also assailed the British ambassador for later meeting Al Wefaq deputies, and warned against foreign meddling.
