Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): The US Secretary of State John Kerry said he discussed with his Bahraini counterpart Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa the internal challenges of reconciliation and the process of trying to bring people together in Bahrain.

Kerry said in a press conference after a meeting they held on Thursday in Washington that he discussed with his guest "the sectarian divisions which resulted in a boycott of an election" organized by authorities in November 2014.

"I know that King Hamad, and the crown prince have worked diligently to try to reach out and engage in a process. We encourage that process. And we will continue to work together very closely on all of these issues, including the internal challenges with which the minister talked to me about very directly and very candidly," Kerry said, adding that he would like to visit Bahrain soon.

The US Secretary of State further stated that he discussed with his Bahraini counterpart issues related to regional security and the challenge resembled by Daesh. "We talked about ways in which we can cooperate and increase the regional cooperation in the effort to deal with Daesh and the ballistic missile defense that Gulf States countries wish to possess in order to ‘augment security,'" he said.

Meanwhile, the Bahraini Foreign Minister said that "in Bahrain we are- with all the efforts that we have done together with our people in Bahrain and with the very nature of the Bahraini people, sectarianism failed to have a foothold in our country, but we will continue to be on our toes facing it. We will continue to make sure that the people come together. And we will continue to move forward."

"We know it's a challenging time. We know that this is a time that this whole region is going through this challenge of sectarianism and extremism, but that will not deter us from making sure that our country is moving forward and never looking backward," he further stated.

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