Bahrain arrests 47, charges 290 in mass crackdown

DUBAI: Bahraini police said Sunday they had arrested 47 people on charges linked to terrorism, including plots to assassinate “public figures”, as well as filing charges against another 290.

Authorities have cracked down hard on dissent since mass street protests in 2011 which demanded an elected prime minister and constitutional monarchy in the Sunni-ruled, Shiite majority kingdom. The government accuses Shiite Tehran of training “terrorist cells” in the tiny island state, located between rival regional heavyweights Iran and Saudi Arabia. Iran denies involvement. In a statement released by Bahrain’s police force on Sunday, the interior minister said law enforcement had arrested 49 “terrorist agents” and foiled attacks across the country, including planned killings of “officials and public figures”. Police had also transferred the cases of 290 wanted persons and suspects to the public prosecutor’s office, it said.