Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — The Gulf Cooperation Council has maintained thousands of
troops in Bahrain to help quell the Iranian-backed Shi’ite revolt.

Officials said thousands of troops from GCC states have been operating
in Bahrain for nearly three years. They said the troops come from the GCC’s
Peninsula Shield Force, most of them from neighboring Saudi Arabia.

“They were brought in to control events, but they have not been used in the country,” Bahraini Defense Minister Mohammed Bin Abdullah Al Khalifa said.

Al Khalifa became the first minister in years to discuss the GCC military presence. The defense minister, who did not disclose the size of the Peninsula Shield contingent, said the GCC troops were deployed along Bahrain’s borders and around critical facilities.

“The Peninsula Shield force in Bahrain exists exactly at its borders, without intervention in the internal issues of Bahrain,” Al Khalifa said in an interview with the Manama-based Gulf Daily News. “It is concentrated on assigned specified sites, to carry out its role in protecting international borders of Bahrain and securing strategic and important military sites.”

The GCC decided to deploy Peninsula Shield in Bahrain in mid-2011 during
the height of the Shi’ite revolt, attributed to Iran. The size of the force
ranged from 3,000 to 7,000 troops, most of them contributed by Saudi Arabia.

Al Khalifa said most of the GCC force, which has declined to 10 percent
of its original size, was operating within the Bahraini military. He said
the military contains other GCC units.

“We have [Peninsula Shield] forces in Bahrain but they are hardly seen
actually,” Al Khalifa said. “The security forces of Bahrain are controlling
the events in the kingdom.”

Officials did not envision the departure of GCC troops, said to come
from Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. They cited threats from Iran, a
weapons ship of which was intercepted last month.

“We are not accusing the government of Iran of involvement,” Bahraini
Public Security Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Tareq Al Hassan said. “But there
are groups within Iran who are involved.”

  Gulf Cooperation Council, Maj. Gen. Tareq Al Hassan, Mohammed Bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Peninsula Shield Force, Shi’ite unrest, Thousands of Gulf states joint forces still in Bahrain but ‘are hardly seen actually’