Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — Britain is said to be harboring Shi’ites allegedly involved in the revolt in Bahrain.

Officials said Bahrain has determined that Shi’ite insurgents fled the Gulf Cooperation Council kingdom and found safe haven in Britain. They said the Shi’ites included alleged planners of attacks around Manama over the last
two years.

“The Bahrain government has some options to deal with this problem, such as approaching Interpol or signing an extradition treaty with the United Kingdom,” Khalid Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, chairman of the Bahraini parliament’s Defense, Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, said. “This will enable us to bring back all those individuals found guilty by Bahrain courts to serve their time here.”

On Sept. 29, Bahrain’s High Criminal Court sentenced 50 people to up to 15 years for their role in the Shi’ite revolt. Officials said 14 people, deemed fugitives, were sentenced in absentia, including such alleged insurgency leaders as Hadi Al Modarasi, Ali Mushaima, Abdul Raouf Al Shayeb and Said Shehabi.

“It has been proven that they spied for the Islamic republic of
Iran, and were in touch with senior leadership and members of the
Revolutionary Guards and supplied them with information related to the
internal situation in the kingdom,” the government said. “They have received
directions from them related to training and preparation for carrying out
acts of vandalism and rioting.”

Al Khalifa said Manama should intensify efforts to sign an extradition
treaty with London. He said the trial outlined evidence of the link between
the Shi’ite defendants and bombings around the Bahraini capital.

“Another way to deal with this problem is to file a court case in the UK
against the accused to revoke their nationalities, which will help in their
extradition,” Al Khalifa said.

Another parliamentary committee chairman urged Britain to return the
Shi’ite fugitives. The chairman, Abdul Haim Al Shamari, head of the Human
Rights Committee, warned the Shi’ite exiled opposition that it would be held
accountable for the bombings in the GCC state.

“We expected the UK to stop harboring these terrorists, who are
supported by the Iranian regime,” Al Shamari said. “They should be stripped
of their foreign nationalities and handed over to Bahrain immediately after
the recent court verdict.”

  Abdul Raouf Al Shayeb, Ali Mushaima, Bahrain: Shi’ite insurgents being granted safe haven in UK, Hadi Al Modarasi, High Criminal Court, Khalid Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Said Shehabi