Interior Minister meets UK Home Secretary; stresses robust Bahrain-UK partnership

London, May 25 (BNA): As part of his visit to the United Kingdom, Interior Minister, General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, met the Home Secretary of the United Kingdom, Priti Patel. Bahraini Ambassador to the UK Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa attended. The UK Home Secretary welcomed the Interior Minister, asserting the importance of developing ties between the two friendly countries. The Interior Minister hailed the long-standing and robust partnership between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United Kingdom, especially in police operations and criminal justice. He highlighted the importance of reinforcing cooperation in exchanging expertise and building capabilities. The cooperation will also be related to Bahrain's study of the implementation of the open prison experience and the expansion of the alternative penalties law, along with the development of the current collaboration with the University of Huddersfield to introduce PhD programme in human rights and the joining of Bahrain in the UK e-visa programmes. The Interior Minister asserted the commitment of Bahrain to fighting terrorism through joint cooperation with the UK and other friendly countries and the enhancement of readiness, especially with the use of modern technology in terrorism. He hailed the United Kingdom's decision in January 2020 to classify Hizballah as a terrorist organisation. The Minister reviewed the efforts of the Kingdom of Bahrain to fight COVID-19 with its new challenges in all fields, including security and law enforcement. He asserted the association of the Interior Ministry in the efforts of Team Bahrain to ensure public safety through the implementation of social distancing measures and the mandatory of wearing masks. He expressed appreciation to the United Kingdom Government for its ongoing support efforts to ensure the travel movement between the two countries despite the current situation. The meeting discussed various security matters and topics of common interest and regional developments, as part of security cooperation and coordination to build upon bilateral cooperation to enhance performance in confronting security challenges and rapid regional and international changes. The UK Home Secretary expressed readiness to reinforce security cooperation and coordination with Bahrain to meet current and future happenings and opening up new horizons of joint work to enhance the activeness of security authorities in facing challenges.