Bahrain's parliament on Tuesday passed legislation penalising contacts with Israel. "Whoever holds any communication or official talks with Israeli officials or travels to Israel will face a fine ... and/or a jail sentence of three to five years," said MP Jalal Fairooz from the Shi'ite Al-Wefaq bloc, an opposition group that backed the move.
"The motivation is that steps are being taken by certain countries to allow certain talks to be held with Israeli officials. Israeli delegates have managed to participate in events in Arab countries with no treaties with Israel," he added, according to Reuters.
The law came after Bahrain's Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa wrote in the Washington Post in July that Arabs had not done enough to communicate directly with Israelis.
© 2009 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
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