DUBAI (Reuters) – Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry summoned the deputy charge d’affaires of the embassy of Iraq on Monday to denounce footage of former Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki criticizing Manama’s crackdown on the Shiite opposition. “Discrimination, marginalization…have reached a severe limit on the people of Bahrain,” Maliki said according to videos from the event published by Iraqi media. The former prime minister was quoted as urging dialogue with those “demanding freedom and justice” to protect Bahrain and Bahrain’s people, Sunnis and Shiites. Bahrain described Maliki’s statements as “blatant and unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of Bahrain”, state news agency (BNA) reported. Bahrain, like Iraq, is a flashpoint for the proxy war between the two regional arch-rivals Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran.

Source: Egypt Independent December 24, 2018 11:41 UTC