DTT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
The Qatari authorities have arrested Bahrain’s world champion bodybuilder Sami Al-Haddad, who was on a fishing cruise, according to an AlAyam report. The report, which accused Qatar of systematically campaigning against Bahraini seafarers, described the incident as a clear violation of the Gulf peace agreement signed at the Al-Ula summit.
Sami Al-Haddad, the Lion of Bahrain, is known for being the first amateur and overall winner of Mr. Olympia in 2011. He is a talented bodybuilder and a spectacular personal trainer. He is an IFBB PRO bodybuilder from Bahrain and the owner of BlacksmithGym.
The leaders of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council had signed a normalization treaty with Qatar to end longstanding disputes. Qatar recently falsely claimed in a letter to the UN that four Bahraini fighter jets had breached its airspace.
The Bahrain State Department denied the claims, saying that at the time, four F-16s, two from Bahrain and two from the United States, were completing a military exercise in the designated military training area in Saudi Arabian airspace.
After the exercises, the planes returned to Bahrain and crossed Saudi Arabia to land at Isa Air Base. The ministry also confirmed that the plane did not fly through Qatari airspace. “The fighters of the Royal Bahraini Air Force always carry out their missions professionally and make sure that they do not invade the borders of other countries.”
In another development, the Bahrain Professional Fishermen’s Society, the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society, the Bahrain Journalists Association and other independent human rights activists welcomed the royal guidelines to compensate Bahraini seafarers affected by the abusive practices in Qatar.
They praised the decision of the cabinet, chaired by HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and instructed the relevant authorities to assess the damage, pay out the compensation and protect the rights of fishermen.
Participants said the Qatari practices against Bahrain’s seafarers should stop immediately and demanded the release of the Bahraini seamen.
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