Bahraini Killed in Syria Fight, Govt Warns Citizens
Bahrain has urged its citizens not to travel to Syria to fight alongside rebels ranged against government forces after a Bahraini youth was killed there in battle, local press reported Thursday.
"Supporting the right of the Syrian people to self defense should be done through the efforts of the international community... in a way that benefits our Syrian brothers," said interior minister Rashid bin Abdullah al-Khalifa, according to press reports.
He warned against "being misled by violent and extremist groups."
The regime of President Bashar Assad claims that thousands of foreign Islamist extremists have infiltrated into Syria joining the ranks of the rebels.
Bahraini Sunni cleric Adel al-Hamad had announced in a video posted recently online that his 19-year-old son, Abdulrahman, was killed while fighting in Syria.
He said his son "hoped to fall as a martyr," but he did not specify when or where in Syria he died.
"He visited Syria once, then he returned to Bahrain where he prepared for his fighting gear and returned to Syria," added Hamad, who uses his sermons to mobilize for jihad, holy war, against the Damascus regime.
He has previously called on Bahrainis to use the summer break to join the fight in Syria.
Abdulrahman Hamad is the first Bahraini to be pronounced killed in Syria.
Damascus accuses Saudi Arabia and Qatar of funding Islamist fighters in Syria, where groups like Al-Nusra Front play a leading role in the battle against government troops.
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