Russia and Bahrain welcome Saudi-led alliance against terrorism

Dec 18, 2015 Russia’s and Bahrain’s foreign ministers recently met in Moscow to discuss the situation in the Middle East with special focus on Syria.

The ministers also welcomed the formation of a new Islamic military alliance against terrorism, initiated by Saudi Arabia.

Speaking at a news conference after the meeting, Bahrain’s foreign minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa said:

“I told my colleague, the minister, about the announcement of the Islamic coalition of 34 states to combat terrorism, which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced yesterday and which the Kingdom of Bahrain welcomed. This is an important step and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has played a constant role in defending the region, creating stability and tackling terrorism and it has been doing this for years. We consider our countries responsible for creating security and stability. We are Muslims and we defend our own against those who claim to represent this religion, although they have no relation to it, with their criminal acts. And this is an extra responsibility upon us as Arab Muslim countries,”

While expressing his support to the formation of the alliance, Head of Russia’s Foreign Ministry Sergei Lavrov said:

“We expect that this initiative will be an incentive for all the Muslim states – maybe through the Organization of Islamic Cooperation – to stand up together against any kind of terrorism and any attempts to manipulate with religion,”