Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain's Jaffaria Endowments (Waqf) Directorate began installing surveillance cameras in a number of Shiite mosques in coordination with the Ministry of Interior.

The Waqf directorate attempted to install the first cameras in Fatima Al-Zahraa Mosque in Hamad City, south of the capital, Manama. The mosque's administration; however, refused to have them installed since it already has cameras of its own setup in the mosque. Nonetheless, the Jaffaria Endowments Directorate insisted on installing its cameras, claiming they are "linked to a unified system connected to the control room of the Ministry of Interior."

Sayeda Khadija Mosque administration in Hamad City also received a call from the "Waqf" informing it that it is planning to install cameras inside the mosque. This as the residents of the area caught last week a man dressed in women's clothing near the mosque but the authorities said that he was mentally ill.

It is expected that the "Waqf" in coordination with the interior ministry will exert more pressure on the mosques' administrations to have these surveillance cameras installed but this has raised concerns that the cameras might be used to keep an eye on worshipers.

Reports say that the Jaffaria Endowments Directorate purchased 20 surveillance cameras recently, each worth 1,000 USD, to have them installed in Shiite mosques with the pretense of protecting these places of worship from terrorist threats that have targeted Shiite mosques in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Arabic Issue