Iraqi Diplomat Expelled from Bahrain
Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2003 7:27 am
MANAMA, Bahrain (CNN) -- The highest-ranking diplomat at Iraq's embassy in Manama was expelled Wednesday, Bahraini government officials tell CNN.
Nazem Jawad Ali, the First Secretary to the Iraqi embassy in Bahrain, was masterminding a series of terrorist attacks in Kuwait and other parts of the region, according to Kuwaiti government sources.
The Kuwaiti government announced 10 days ago they had intelligence information that Iraqis were planning to commit terrorist acts in Kuwait and the rest of the region.
Ali was informed of his expulsion by Bahrain's foreign minister and that he had to leave the country immediately.
Ali was allegedly linked to an explosion that took place one week ago outside the U.S. Naval Base in Manama, where the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet is based.
On March 24, an explosion took place near the base, which authorities at the time said was caused by a propane gas tank in a garbage can ignited by anti-war protesters.
Ali was linked to the explosion by Uday Abd Amir Hassoun, an Iraqi national living in Bahrain who was arrested for causing the explosion.
According to a senior Bahraini official, Hassoun confessed that it was Ali who ordered him to bomb the naval base.
Nazem Jawad Ali, the First Secretary to the Iraqi embassy in Bahrain, was masterminding a series of terrorist attacks in Kuwait and other parts of the region, according to Kuwaiti government sources.
The Kuwaiti government announced 10 days ago they had intelligence information that Iraqis were planning to commit terrorist acts in Kuwait and the rest of the region.
Ali was informed of his expulsion by Bahrain's foreign minister and that he had to leave the country immediately.
Ali was allegedly linked to an explosion that took place one week ago outside the U.S. Naval Base in Manama, where the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet is based.
On March 24, an explosion took place near the base, which authorities at the time said was caused by a propane gas tank in a garbage can ignited by anti-war protesters.
Ali was linked to the explosion by Uday Abd Amir Hassoun, an Iraqi national living in Bahrain who was arrested for causing the explosion.
According to a senior Bahraini official, Hassoun confessed that it was Ali who ordered him to bomb the naval base.
