Bahrain Mirror: Akhbar Al-Khaleej newspaper, which has close ties with the Bahraini Prime Minister, attacked the Washington Post newspaper after its latest article in which Bahrain's king was listed among the top five "Human Rights Abusers".

In its editorial, Akhbar Al-Khaleej criticized the Washington Post for its "blatant lies and deliberate defaming" that represent "suspicious intentions", considering that all what was mentioned in the Washington Post's article are "fallacies, lies and an oppressive campaign targeting Bahrain in the US media."

The newspaper continued its attack, saying that the Washington Post talks about "citizens killed during protests. It is strange that it ignores the terrorism that Bahrain has been facing throughout the recent years and the terrorist operations targeting security forces and the whole society."

Akbar Al-Khaleej said that the "terrorism" it described is caused by Iran, adding that "according to the American newspaper, Human rights means only rights for the terrorists."

Akhbar Al-Khaleej went as far as to criticize The Washington Post for quoting Human Rights Watch slamming the organization as "a suspicious organization that is clearly implementing a political agenda targeting Bahrain and other Arab states. All Human Rights Watch reports about Bahrain are fabricated and untrue and represent a blatant support for the sectarian and terrorist forces," denying the presence "of thousands of Bahrainis in prison due to their opposition to the government (...) There is no prisoner in Bahrain who is detained over his political stance or peaceful opposition to the government," considering that the political prisoners "are convicted of terrorist crimes."

"The American newspaper did not abstain from calling the Obama administration to blatantly interfere in Bahrain's affairs, as it criticized the administration's decision to lift the ban on military assistance to Bahrain and demanded it to let its interference be linked to the human rights issues. The Washington Post is promoting knowingly or not the worst human rights violations incriminated by the international law by calling on the US to interfere in Bahrain's affairs," it added.

"In the article published about Bahrain, Washington Post intends to spread lies and defamation and mislead the US public opinion," Akhbar Al-Khaleej stressed, wondering if "it is a new campaign targeting Bahrain and the GCC states within a planned framework in an attempt to ignite chaos, violence and terrorism in the region, or a clear blackmailing of Bahrain?"

The Akhbar Al-Khaleej newspaper linked the article published by the Washington Post to the report about Bahrain's announcement of its Airbus deal for Gulf Air during the King's visit to France, claiming that Washington wants to punish and blackmail Bahrain because it preferred Airbus over American companies.

Arabic Issue