Bahrain Mirror: The ambassadors of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait to the Republic of Iraq conveyed a message of protest by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member States to the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Iraq, Dr. Ibrahim Al-Jaafari, following the statement issued by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry on the ruling issued against the leader of the Bahraini opposition, Sheikh Ali Salman. The gulf states considered the Iraqi ministry's comments as "a breach of diplomatic norms and a blatant interference in the internal affairs of the Kingdom."

The Iraqi Foreign Minister received the Bahraini Ambassador Salah Al-Maliki, UAE Ambassador Hassan Al-Shehhi, and Kuwaiti Ambassador Ghassan Al-Zawawi, who stressed to Al-Jaafari that "such statements will not serve the aspired progress of relations between the GCC member states and the sister Republic of Iraq."

For his part, Al-Jaafari underscored the keenness of his country on strengthening and further bolstering ties with GCC States away from any interference in the internal affairs or encroachment of the independence of the national sovereignty.

The Arabic Issue