|
2005-10-12 Arabia
|
|
Bahrain MPs, govt clash over Israel trade plans
|
MANAMA â Bahrainâs parliament yesterday rejected a decision by the government to lift a ban on Israeli goods as part of a trade deal with the United States. The legislative body also adopted a law to reopen an office responsible for monitoring local markets against Israeli goods. The office was recently closed by the government after US pressures.
The parliamentâs decision still has to go to the countryâs upper house, the shoura council, and must be approved by the king before it goes into effect.
Last month, former foreign minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak announced Bahrain had officially ended its boycott of Israeli goods, a shocking decision to many Bahrainis who, like many ordinary Arabs, are angry at Israelâs occupation of Arab land and its treatment of Palestinians. âOur normalisation with Israel means if we buy their goods, they will use the returns to buy weapons to kill our Palestinian brothers,â lawmaker Isa Al Motawaâ said.
Newly appointed Foreign Minister Shaikh Khaled bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said on Monday that the decision to lift the ban did not mean the government planned to normalise relations with Israel.
Government officials said the parliamentâs proposal would probably not affect the free-trade agreement (FTA) which Bahrain signed last year with the United States, the first between Washington and a Gulf Arab country. 
|
Posted by Steve White 2005-10-12 01:12||
||
Front Page|| [11131 views since 2007-05-07]
Top
|
|
15:41 Skidmark
15:37 swksvolFF
15:36 Skidmark
15:34 Skidmark
15:27 Skidmark
14:48 NoMoreBS
14:31 NoMoreBS
14:16 NoMoreBS
14:15 NoMoreBS
14:04 swksvolFF
13:47 Regular joe
13:43 swksvolFF
13:38 swksvolFF
13:34 swksvolFF
13:31 Abu Uluque
13:25 Heribertus Vedente
13:24 mossomo
13:20 Abu Uluque
13:14 mossomo
13:06 swksvolFF
12:51 Grom the Affective
12:31 Abu Uluque
12:20 swksvolFF
12:17 Abu Uluque
|
