DUBAI: Bahraini police have arrested 20 people in a crackdown on villages, as legislators approved a constitutional amendment that could see civilians tried in military courts in the island kingdom.
The lower house of Parliament on Tuesday voted in favor of a constitutional amendment which drops a clause restricting military trials to offenses committed by members of the army, police or other security branches.
Under the amendment to Article 105, which also needs approval in Bahrain’s appointed upper house, civilians charged with “damaging public interest” or with terrorism — broadly defined — could now face trial in a military court.
The police media center published the names of the 20 people arrested, who include four women. They are aged between 20 and 65.
They published photographs of nine of them, including all four women. Those arrested face charges including “plotting acts of terrorism” and aiding and abetting fugitives.
Eight are accused of having “received military training on arms and the use of explosives in Iran and Iraq.”
Sporadic demonstrations have intensified since last week’s anniversary of the launch of the protests.
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20 arrested as Bahrain OKs civilians’ military trial
20 arrested as Bahrain OKs civilians’ military trial
Germany will keep supporting Lebanon after UN peacekeepers leave, German president says
BEIRUT: Germany moved to assure Lebanon on Monday that it will support the Lebanese government even after pulling out German troops deployed as part of UN peacekeepers along the Lebanon-Israel border when their mission ends later this year.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier made the announcement during a news conference at the presidential palace near Beirut. Germany’s navy, he said, is already training Lebanese troops as they boost their presence in the country’s south following the 14-month war between Israel and the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group.
The mission of the multinational UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, concludes at the end of 2026, nearly five decades after it was deployed. The force has played a significant role in monitoring the security situation in the region, including during the Israel-Hezbollah war last year.
Over the past months, Beirut has said that Lebanon will need a follow-up force to fill the vacuum in southern Lebanon once the UN peacekeepers leave.
“After the end of UNIFIL’s mission, Germany will stay by the side of your country to boost state authority,” Steinmeier said, without elaborating. It remains unlikely German troops — tasked with preventing arms smuggling by sea and helping the Lebanese army monitor the country’s sea border — would remain in Lebanon.
UNIFIL currently numbers about 7,500 peacekeepers, including 179 Germans.
“The Lebanese armed Forces are, of course, the backbone of stability in Lebanon and this means that after UNIFIL’s mission we have to think how to strengthen” the army, Steinmeier said.
Steinmeier added that the process of disarming Hezbollah — which was part of a November 2024 US-brokered ceasefire that halted the fighting — should move ahead and that Israel should fully withdraw from Lebanese territory.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Lebanon paid a high price for the Hezbollah-Israel war, which Hezbollah started by firing rockets into Israel a day after the militant Palestinian group Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, triggering the war in Gaza.
Israel expanded its attacks that included bombardment and a ground operation in September 2024, severely weakening Hezbollah.
The Israel-Hezbollah conflict killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, including hundreds of civilians, and caused an estimated $11 billion in damage and destruction, according to the World Bank. In Israel, 127 people died, including 80 soldiers.
“We were forced to live through violent conflicts we did not choose and we bore their burdens. We are no longer able to do so,” Aoun said of the Israel-Hezbollah war.
Aoun also said he had asked Steinmeier to have Germany assume a “main role” after UNIFL, without elaborating what that would entail, and to also ask Israel to abide by the ceasefire and withdraw from Lebanon. He made no mention of Hezbollah’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier made the announcement during a news conference at the presidential palace near Beirut. Germany’s navy, he said, is already training Lebanese troops as they boost their presence in the country’s south following the 14-month war between Israel and the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group.
The mission of the multinational UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, concludes at the end of 2026, nearly five decades after it was deployed. The force has played a significant role in monitoring the security situation in the region, including during the Israel-Hezbollah war last year.
Over the past months, Beirut has said that Lebanon will need a follow-up force to fill the vacuum in southern Lebanon once the UN peacekeepers leave.
“After the end of UNIFIL’s mission, Germany will stay by the side of your country to boost state authority,” Steinmeier said, without elaborating. It remains unlikely German troops — tasked with preventing arms smuggling by sea and helping the Lebanese army monitor the country’s sea border — would remain in Lebanon.
UNIFIL currently numbers about 7,500 peacekeepers, including 179 Germans.
“The Lebanese armed Forces are, of course, the backbone of stability in Lebanon and this means that after UNIFIL’s mission we have to think how to strengthen” the army, Steinmeier said.
Steinmeier added that the process of disarming Hezbollah — which was part of a November 2024 US-brokered ceasefire that halted the fighting — should move ahead and that Israel should fully withdraw from Lebanese territory.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Lebanon paid a high price for the Hezbollah-Israel war, which Hezbollah started by firing rockets into Israel a day after the militant Palestinian group Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, triggering the war in Gaza.
Israel expanded its attacks that included bombardment and a ground operation in September 2024, severely weakening Hezbollah.
The Israel-Hezbollah conflict killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, including hundreds of civilians, and caused an estimated $11 billion in damage and destruction, according to the World Bank. In Israel, 127 people died, including 80 soldiers.
“We were forced to live through violent conflicts we did not choose and we bore their burdens. We are no longer able to do so,” Aoun said of the Israel-Hezbollah war.
Aoun also said he had asked Steinmeier to have Germany assume a “main role” after UNIFL, without elaborating what that would entail, and to also ask Israel to abide by the ceasefire and withdraw from Lebanon. He made no mention of Hezbollah’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
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