Bahrain recalls Iraq envoy over Baghdad embassy protest

BAGHDAD: Bahrain said it had recalled its envoy to Iraq after protesters upset by Manamas's hosting of an American Middle East peace conference torched its flag in Baghdad.

Some 200 protesters also burned Israeli flags while hoisting the flags of Iraq and Palestine in a demonstration outside Bahrain's embassy in the Iraqi capital, a police official said.

Iraqi security forces broke up the rally and protesters did not enter the embassy compound, the official said.

But the government of Bahrain said it had "decided to recall its ambassador... for consultations" and held Baghdad responsible for its embassy security, according to a statement from its official news agency.

It condemned the incident as an "attack" which it said had led to "damaging acts in the embassy building."

US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner on Wednesday launched a long-awaited Middle East initiative with a two-day conference in Bahrain, where leaders touted his plan to jumpstart Palestinians' economy.

But the Palestinian Authority boycotted the conference, accusing the unabashedly pro-Israel Trump administration of trying to force its solution on them.

Trump has taken a series of landmark steps to benefit Israel including recognizing bitterly divided Jerusalem as the Jewish state's capital in 2017, which led the Palestinian Authority to cut off formal contact.