Bahrain: Islamist MPs made unofficial Syria visit

Bahrain's government on Tuesday distanced itself from Islamist MPs who visited Syria at the weekend and delivered aid to rebels in the north where they are fighting regime forces. "The entry into Syria by a number of Bahraini MPs took place without notifying the foreign ministry," the ministry said in a statement carried by BNA official news agency. MPs Adel al-Maawda and Abdulhalim Murad along with former MP Hamad al-Mohanadi and judge Faisal al-Ghurair, all members of the Salafist Asala political association, had said they visited Aleppo and met members of the rebel Free Syrian Army on Sunday. They posted pictures of their meeting on the Twitter microblogging website. "We gave pledges to build three field hospitals and delivered donations from the people of Bahrain to the army (FSA)," Murad tweeted after Islamists in the Gulf kingdom organised fundraising campaigns to support Syrian rebels. The foreign ministry urged citizens "to avoid visiting areas of armed conflicts and to be careful, for their own safety." Like other Gulf monarchies, Bahrain has severed diplomatic ties with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad over its deadly crackdown on dissent which broke out in March last year.