Maher ruled out intention to expel any Iraqi diplomat

Additional reporting by Hamam Abdelmaboud, IOL Staff

CAIRO, April 2 (IslamOnline.net & news Agencies) – The Egyptian Foreign Ministry categorically denied Wednesday, April 2, reports of expelling the first secretary at Iraq's embassy Riyad Jabeir el-Ani.

Speaking to the Middle East News Agency (MENA), an Egyptian diplomatic source repudiated claims that Egyptian authorities had asked the Iraqi diplomat to leave the country within a week.

Speaking to IslamOnline.net, Assistant Egyptian Foreign Minister Abdullah el-Ashaal stressed the country was committed to its agreements with Iraq and would never embark on such a step at this crucial junction.

The diplomat, also an international law expert, reiterated the solidarity of the Egyptian people and government with the Iraqi people against the vicious aggression launched by the United States and Britain which claimed the lives of scores of Iraqi women and children.

On Tuesday, April 1, the Iraqi TV regretted a decision by Egypt to expel an Iraqi diploma.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher underlined on March 23 that his country has no intention of bowing to American pressures to expel Iraqi diplomats.

Bahrain Boots Out Iraqi Diplomat 

Bahrain announced Wednesday the expulsion of the first secretary at Iraq's embassy in the kingdom and allegedly linked him to an explosion outside a giant U.S. naval base.

Iraq's charge d'affaires Abdullah Jaburi was called to the foreign ministry and informed of the order against Nazem Jawad to leave, the state-run Bahrain News Agency said, quoting a ministry spokesman.

The first secretary was "in contact with an Iraqi citizen, Abdul Amir Hasnun who is implicated in the explosion on March 24 and has carried out activities which are incompatible with his diplomatic work," the spokesman claimed.

A gas bottle left in a dustbin exploded near the Al-Jufair base which serves as headquarters for the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.

No one was reported hurt but residents said windows nearby were shattered.

The explosion was just 250 meters (yards) from the naval base, east of the capital Manama.

The U.S. State Department announced on March 20, as it unleashed cruise missiles on Baghdad, that it had formally asked governments worldwide to shut down Iraqi embassies and diplomatic missions until new authorities were in power in Baghdad.

Most of the 5,000 Americans residing in Bahrain, declared a major non-NATO ally by Washington last year, are military personnel with the Fifth Fleet.

Some 3,000 military personnel and dependents live in Al-Jufair.

Bahrainis have repeatedly held anti-war protests and clashed with police outside the U.S. embassy in Manama since the United States launched its military aggression on Iraq. The embassy has since been closed.

U.S. military personnel have been stationed here since Manama, which currently chairs the Arab League, signed an agreement with Washington in the early 1970s granting the U.S. Navy facilities at the base.