The exiled Bahraini opposition on Tuesday criticized the emir's appointment of six new members to a committee working on a national charter for the Gulf island state.
It said the appointments were only made to replace six members who had quit in protest at moves to turn Bahrain into a kingdom.
"These nominations prove the obstinacy of the Al-Khalifa regime in achieving its wretched project," said the London-based Bahrain Freedom Movement in a statement received by AFP.
The emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa, on Saturday appointed the Bahrain Defense Force (BDF) financial chief, Hamid Salman al-Sirefi, two academics, an oil official, a top engineer and an environmentalist to the committee.
One of the academics, Mohammad Jassem al-Ghatam, president of Bahrain University, also holds a key post in the BDF, according to the opposition.
Bahrain's minister of state for the emir's court, Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmad al-Khalifa, said last week that Bahrain could declare itself a kingdom without any change in the ruling system -- NICOSIA (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
