Protesters stormed the Bahraini embassy compound in Baghdad Thursday night, removing the flag from above the building and replacing it with a Palestinian banner in protest against a US-led economic conference held in the Gulf nation to push Washington’s Israeli-Palestinian peace plan.
Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack and said the kingdom was recalling its ambassador, Salah Ali al-Maliki. It added that Iraqi authorities have a responsibility to protect the embassy in Baghdad.
The attack on the embassy could affect relations between Iraq and nearby gulf nations at a time when they have been improving in recent months since Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi took office. The assault was believed to have been carried out by supporters of Iran-backed Iraqi militias.
Iraq’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmad al-Sahhaf told The Associated Press that Baghdad condemns the attack on the embassy adding that “Iraqi authorities will go after those who took part of the attack as well as the instigators.”
No one was hurt in the standoff that lasted more than an hour and later in the night Iraqi security forces were in control of the area.
Iraq’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmad al-Sahhaf told The Associated Press that Baghdad condemns the attack on the embassy adding that “Iraqi authorities will go after those who took part of the attack as well as the instigators.”
No one was hurt in the standoff that lasted more than an hour and later in the night Iraqi security forces were in control of the area.
An Iraqi security official said the protesters forced their way in by breaking through the main gate but stayed in the garden without storming the offices inside the compound. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said security forces opened fire in the air to disperse the protesters and reinforcements were sent to Baghdad’s western neighborhood of Mansour, where the embassy is located.
More than an hour later, the nearly 200 protesters, waving Iraqi and Palestinian flags, dispersed. The official said 25 of the protesters were detained by Iraqi security forces later in the evening.
Iraq’s newly named Interior Minister Yassin al-Yassiri visited the compound around midnight.
The Bahraini diplomats were evacuated earlier from the compound into the heavily fortified Green Zone that is home to the Iraqi government headquarters, after the mission received threats, the official said.
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