Bahrain minister blasts Qatar’s policies

Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s minister of foreign affairs, has lambasted Doha-based Al Jazeera television channel, tweeting that it supported Qatar’s distortion of facts.

“Al Jazeera is a channel that faithfully reflects Qatar’s policy of fraud and falsification of facts and reality. Its latest lies regarding the situation in the Jaw prison are the best example of this reflection,” Shaikh Khalid said.

“Jaw prison is being managed according to international standards and it is under the constant supervision of the Ministry of the Interior and measures regarding the rights of prisoners and inmates,” the minister tweeted to his more than 442,000 followers on the social microblog.

Shaikh Khalid said that the people held in prison in Bahrain are criminals who are serving sentences according to the verdicts issued by court of law.

“This is not the case in Qatar where prisons are filled with noble Arabs who have been thrown unfairly in jail and without trial,” he posted.

“The Qatar crisis is based not only on the country’s despicable actions and conspiracy against its brethren, but also on its miserable social status generated by injustice, oppression and racism.”

Bahrain, alongside Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, on June 5 severed diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar.

The Quartet accused Doha of supporting extremists and funding extremists and issued a list of 13 demands that Qatar had to meet in order to iron out differences.

However, Qatar has rejected the demands and the standoff has persisted despite mediation efforts exerted by Kuwait.

Al Jazeera has often been accused of airing reports that are detrimental to the stability and security of the region.