Manama Thanks Qatar for Releasing 3 Bahrainis, Rejects Al-Jazeera Allegations   

Bahrain announced the arrival of its three citizens to the country, on Friday, after their release by Qatar, according to the official news agency (BNA).

The three Bahrainis arrived at Bahrain International Airport on Friday; they are: the bodybuilding champion Sami Ibrahim Al-Haddad, in addition to Muhammad Yusef Al-Dossari and sailor Habib Abbas.

On January 8, the security forces of the coasts and the Qatari borders arrested Al-Haddad and Al-Dossari while they were on a fishing trip,

But Doha stated that they had entered its territorial waters, while Manama denied the validity of this accusation.

On Thursday, Bahrain assured that the Qatari authorities had released its citizens and transferred them to the Sultanate of Oman.

The Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its thanks to the Sultanate of Oman for its efforts in coordinating the follow-up to the release of Bahrainis detained in Qatar, and to facilitate their return to the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The Bahraini Foreign Ministry said that it "considers the release of the Bahraini citizens a step that reflects the spirit required to complete the treatment of the outstanding issues between the two countries in order to strengthen the process of cooperation between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states," calling at the same time for the release of Asian sailors who work on fishing vessels belonging to Bahrain in respect of their human condition."

Last Wednesday, the Bahraini authorities responded to a report reported by the Qatari Al-Jazeera channel about the status of a life-imprisonment sentence in the country for terrorist cases.

This came in a statement made by the General Administration of Reform and Rehabilitation in Bahrain, in which it said: “In response to what is circulated on the Qatari Al-Jazeera website and some websites and social media accounts, regarding the status of the inmate Zuhair Jassim Muhammad Abbas, 40, who is sentenced to life in a number of terrorist cases, the administration confirmed the authority declared that everything published in this regard is incorrect."