Bahrain urges Qatar to immediately release Bahraini int'l bodybuilding champion

Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-11 00:36:54|Editor: huaxia

MANAMA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Bahraini Foreign Ministry on Sunday demanded Qatar immediately release Bahraini international bodybuilding champion Sami Al Haddad.

"The Ministry calls on the Qatari authorities to immediately release the Bahraini citizen Sami Al-Haddad and his companions, and to stop attacking Bahraini fishermen at sea and unfairly arresting them," the Ministry said in a statement.

Al Haddad, an IFBB Pro bodybuilder and the amateur winner of the international bodybuilding contest Mr. Olympia in 2011, and his friends were arrested by the Qatari authorities on Saturday when they were on a fishing boat.

Bahraini Interior Minister Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa said last month that Qatar targeted 2,153 Bahraini citizens and 560 Bahrain-registered boats from 2010 to 2020.

Last week, Bahrain and five other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries including Qatar signed a reconciliation agreement during the 41st GCC Summit held in the Saudi Arabian city of AlUla.

An Arab quartet of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain severed diplomatic ties with Qatar in June 2017, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism. Qatar has repeatedly denied all the charges. Enditem.

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