MANAMA, 21 February 2007 — The Interior Ministry has claimed that confessions obtained following recent arrests had uncovered a clandestine operation to destabilize Bahrain and undermine its security. According to a statement issued to the media late Monday, 35 youths aged 20 to 25 had trained to use Molotov cocktails on a farm in the village of Bani Jamrah, west of the capital Manama. Col. Adel Al-Fadel, head of the Northern Security Directorate, was quoted by the statement as saying that two defendants confessed to their crimes before the public prosecutor. The arrests disclosed to the security forces important details about how recruiting and training of some young people had been carried out to achieve long-term goals with the aim of destabilizing the country security, he said. Al-Fadel said that the first defendant, a resident of Karanah, was apprehended in possession of a Molotov cocktail before attacking police during a riot in the village of Bani Jamrah. The confessions of the first defendant led to the arrest of the second defendant, identified in the statement only as a resident of Abu Saiba. The first defendant said that the second defendant took him to a farm in Bani Jamrah, where a masked person trained them in a group of 35 youths in the use of Molotov cocktails against police, Al-Fadel said. He reported that the training on the farm had been carried out on dates set in a precise manner. Al-Fadel said that the first defendant led authorities to the farm, where they discovered a neatly organized box full of empty bottles. The second defendant, according to the statement, also confessed to his involvement in riots, vandalism and arson but denied accompanying the first defendant to the alleged training farm. The village of Abu Saiba had witnessed it third straight night of unrest with clashes late Monday between protesters and police over the arrest of village resident Radhi Ali Radhi, who was detained following a morning raid Saturday on his home. The detention of Radhi, who is in his early 20s, led relatives and friends to organize a protest the same day in front of the village entrance to demand his release. His family had tried to see him at the police station, but they were turned away without being given a reason for his arrest. Both police and protesters exchanged blame for the clashes, with protesters pointing out that their demonstrations were peaceful rallies to demand Radhi’s release, while police accused the protesters of holding illegal protests. According to Al-Fadel, the evidence confirmed to security agencies that the acts of vandalism that took place recently were part of a scheme to destabilize Bahrain and were not spontaneous reactions.
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