The Kingdom of Bahrain announced on Saturday it had broken up a terror ring consisting of five people possibly linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
The five suspects are all "Sunni Islamist" Bahrainis and were arrested three days ago, a high-level Bahraini official told AFP, on condition of anonymity.
Authorities in the Kingdom are trying to "establish if the cell is linked to groups inside or outside Bahrain," the official added in a reference to al-Qaeda.
"Bahraini security forces broke up a cell that had been plotting terrorist acts ... targeting the kingdom's national interests and endangering the lives of innocent citizens," said an official spokesman, quoted by BNA news agency.
Security forces "seized arms and ammunition" which members of the cell "planned to use to carry out terrorist acts against the security of the country and its citizens," the spokesman added.
The senior Bahraini official said pistols, machineguns and ammunition intended to be used "against Bahraini interests" were found in the group's possession. The arrest of one member led to the arrest of the others, he added.
The official spokesman identified the members of the cell as Mohieddin Mahmud Mohieddin Khan, born in Lebanon in 1961; Bassam Abderrazzak Abdullah Bukhua, born in 1970; Bassam Yussef Abdelkarim Ali, 1956; Issa Abdullah Abderrahman al-Baluchi, born in the Saudi Arabian city of al-Khobar in 1972; and Jamal Hilal Mohammad al-Baluchi, 1965.
The suspects are being questioned to establish "if they are affiliated to specific political organizations or were operating in an isolated manner," the spokesman said. (Albawaba.com)
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