Bahrain authorities announced on Tuesday that they have detained a terrorist group that is backed by Lebanon’s “Hezbollah” militant group, reported the Bahrain News Agency (BNA)
Four members of the group were interrogated by the General Prosecution. They were later charged and remanded in custody pending further investigations.
Initial investigations revealed that the security agencies arrested one of the defendants, who established the so-called Manama Human Rights Observatory as a front and a cover to support acts of terrorism in Bahrain.
He divided the members of the organization into groups to carry out activities that were allegedly related to human rights and to mobilize crowds for illegal rallies ostensibly to make human rights demands, but in reality to use them to carry out riots and acts of vandalism and terrorism against police personnel and vehicles and the Ministry of Interior building in Manama.
The investigations also revealed that the founder of the terror organization received support for its activities from “Hezbollah” through a Bahraini national who worked for the militia and resided in Lebanon, BNA said.
They also revealed that “Hezbollah” was funding and supporting many people belonging to alleged human rights organizations in order to send false reports on the human rights situation in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The aim was to discredit those countries, undermine their status in international public opinion and damage their national interests through convening international conferences that included members of international human rights organizations.
One female suspect used human rights work as a cover to communicate and cooperate with Al Karama Foundation to provide them with information and fake news about the situation in Bahrain to undermine its status abroad, reported BNA.
Al Karama founder was included in the list of terrorists drafted by the Quartet combating the funding of terrorism (Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt). He was also listed by the US Treasury as a terrorist and had his assets and funds frozen in 2013 over his ties to al-Qaeda terror group.
Chief of Terror Crime Prosecution Advocate General Ahmed Al Hammadi said that an investigation had been launched in the case of the formation of an illegal organization with the aim of stalling the law, preventing the state from exercising its responsibilities, assaulting personal freedom and harming national unity.
The organization was in contact with people working for a foreign-based organization engaged in terrorist activities for the purpose of carrying out acts of terrorism against Bahrain, targeting police and pubic order servicemen, participating in illegal rallies, sabotaging private properties and disseminating fake news likely to undermine national security and public order, added BNA.
Investigations indicated that he had managed to exploit the foundation to support numerous terror groups under the cover of human rights.