Bahrain's cultural diversity and rich history hailed

British media figure and Head of the British Middle East Centre for Studies & Research (BMCSR) Sumaya Farooq has expressed her country's pride in hosting the "This Is Bahrain" Expo, an event showcasing Bahrain's multi-cultural society. She wished the exhibition every success in boosting the British-Bahraini relations of friendship and cooperation. In a statement to Al-Arabiya TV, she said that London had gone through difficult times over the past years, but, like Manama, it had overcome challenges and made peace thanks to the efforts of the government to preserve its achievements. She added that the expo presented a vivid image of the real situation in the kingdom and the progress it had witnessed over history, which contributed to its renaissance and development march that has earned it a prestigious reputation in the world. She described the Kingdom of Bahrain as the "London of the Middle East", being a huv of freedom and ethnic diversity. She expressed hope that the event would strengthen the long-standing Bahraini-British relations and open up new horizons of cooperation and friendship between them. She pointed out that the kingdom had always been a strategic centre for civilisations, which has helped it extend bridges of cooperation with various civilisations and countries. She said she was surprised by Bahrain's "rich civilisational and cultural heritage", which, she said, entitled to provide an excellent example of mixture between traditions and modernity, as well as development and progress. She expressed strong admiration of the kingdom's long history, noting that what distinguishes the kingdom is it is a melting pot of cultures, religions and people. She described His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa as a "symbol of peace", and voiced pride in his innumerable initiatives that benefited humanity politically and socially, noting that the "bold" Royal initiatives vis-à-vis global issues are know all over the world.