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Bahrain to host anti-Israel conference after anti-U.S. unrest

Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Wednesday, May 29, 2002

ABU DHABI Ñ Bahrain plans to host its first conference to press Arab nations to end all relations with Israel.

The conference will be held in Manama on Wednesday. The Third GCC Forum Against Normalization of Relations will last three days and include speakers from the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council, including Khaled Nasser, the son of the late Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser.

This is the first time the annual congress will be held in Bahrain. The organizer of the conference is the Bahrain Association for Resisting Normalization of Relations with the Zionist Enemy.

"There is a need for the Arab people to provide all kinds of support to their Palestinian brethren and to somehow pressure Israel and its supporters," association secretary Maha Al Aseeri, said. "We want to send a message to the whole world that Arabs are supporting the Palestinians and are ready to give all they can to help them in their struggle."

Bahrain has been rocked by anti-American and anti-Israeli violence over the last month. On Monday, the U.S. embassy in Manama said two American military personnel and the wife of one of the sailors were seriously hurt in a brawl.

Arab diplomatic sources said Egyptian and Jordanian unions have brought the anti-normalization movements to GCC states. The sources said the unions have made a priority the prevention of Gulf links with Israel.

The first anti-normalization conference was held earlier this month in Dubai. The Dubai conference was attended by envoys from eight Arab countries.

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