Bahrain Mirror: The Foreign Minister of Bahrain has issued a tribute to Israel's ninth President Shimon Peres, a rarity for an Arab leader, reported the Associated Press.

The news agency further said that Khalid al-Khalifa tweeted Thursday, "Rest in peace President Shimon Peres, a man of war and a man of the still elusive peace in the Middle East."

For its part, the Israeli Haaretz newspaper noted that "Israel and Bahrain have no official diplomatic ties," adding that this is the first reaction to Shimon Peres' death by a leader in the Arab world other than Abbas.

As for The Jerusalem Post, in an article entitled "Gulf Arab official: Rest in peace Shimon Peres," it said that even though Bahrain has no official diplomatic relationship, Khalifa has met with Jewish and Israeli leaders including former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in 2007.

AP further stated that "although Peres is hailed as a man of peace, Arab leaders have greeted his death mostly with silence. The hostility is colored by Peres' role in building his country's defense arsenal, supporting Israeli settlements in the West Bank and waging war in Lebanon."

"Still, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has lauded Peres for reaching a "peace of the brave" with the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin," it added

JP noted that the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sent a condolence letter to the Peres family on Wednesday, expressing his "sadness and sorrow" of the former Israeli statesman's death.

Abbas said Peres made "unremitting efforts to reach a permanent peace since the Oslo Accords until his last moments."

Arabic Version