Manama: A parliamentarian committee has sidestepped requests by the foreign minister to uphold international agreements and called for the reopening of the Israel boycott office.

“Now that the committee has agreed on reopening the office, we request the foreign ministry to support the decisions by the representatives of the people and to put an end to all forms of contact between Bahrain and the Zionist entity,” Adel Al Mouawda, the chairman of the foreign affairs, defence and national security committee in the lower house, said yesterday.

“The authorities should also allow the reopening of the Israel boycott office and ban any form of communication with the Zionist entity,” he said in a statement to the press following a meeting with Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa.

The minister has been facing a barrage of criticism after he said that he met his Israeli counterpart Tzipi Livni last month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. [read more]