Iraqi Troops Protecting Bahrain’s Baghdad Embassy after Attack

Iraqi security personnel have taken up positions around Bahrain’s embassy in Baghdad after some 200 people stormed the compound on Thursday night, angry that the kingdom had hosted this week’s US-sponsored conference aimed at Israeli-Palestinian peace. The demonstrators removed the Bahraini flag and waved Palestinian flags before being dispersed with live ammunition fired in the air. Baghdad police sources said no one was hurt. Some of those who stormed the compound were quoted as saying that the action reflected their unwillingness to see the Arab world normalize relations with Israel. Bahrain called home its ambassador in protest, and an Iraqi envoy posted in Manama, the Bahraini capital, was summoned to the kingdom’s Foreign Ministry as a further sign of protest over the attack. The Iraqi government issued a statement saying it “affirms its absolute rejection of any acts which threaten diplomatic missions, their safety and the security of their personnel.”