Bahrain recalls ambassador after pro-Palestine protesters storm Baghdad embassy

Bahrain recalled its ambassador to Iraq on Thursday after protesters stormed the Gulf kingdom’s embassy in Baghdad and took down the flag to protest a controversial US-led meeting in Bahrain on Israeli-Palestinian peace.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain condemns the attack on the Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the Republic of Iraq by the demonstrators (which) led to sabotage in the embassy building,” said a statement on the ministry’s website.

No casualties were reported in the standoff that lasted more than an hour before Iraqi security forces later took control.

An Iraqi security official said the protesters forced their way in through the main gate but remained in the courtyard without storming the offices inside the compound.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said security forces opened fire in the air to disperse the protesters as reinforcement was sent in.

More than an hour later, the nearly 200 protesters, waving Iraqi and Palestinian flags, dispersed.

The Bahraini diplomats were evacuated earlier from the compound into the heavily fortified Green Zone after the mission received threats, the official said.

The two-day workshop in Bahrain that ended on Wednesday was to promote the Trump administration's $50 billion economic support plan for the Palestinians ahead of a Mideast peace plan.

Palestinians and several Arab countries, including Iraq and Lebanon, have boycotted the Bahrain conference.

Protests have taken place in Palestine, Morocco and Jordan against the conference.

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