Krajeski strongly denied the claims by Abdulhadi Al Khawaja in February 2011 alleging that the US supported protests and provided assurances of greater political power for members of the opposition. “No one in the United States government gave him any reason to support that kind of statement,” Ambassador Krajeski said.
The US envoy referring to the on-going attacks on security forces in Bahrain highlighted the importance of re-establishing stability and security to ensure the path to reconciliation is not deterred.
The ambassador said that the significant progress of reform in the implementation of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry’s (BICI) recommendations, including the extensive training and modernization of security forces.
Krajeski applauded the appointment of two top cops at the Ministry of Interior one each from Britain and the US. The appointment of John Timoney and John Yates, the ambassador said, are recognized experts in security and defense, as advisors to the Ministry of Interior (MOI) whose work has already reflected positively on-ground.
He supported the government’s determination for even further reform, however, stressed that some of the recommendations may take years to enforce, we recognize this takes time.
As part of my duties, Ambassador Krajeski said, I maintain ties with various groups of Bahrain’s political spectrum, which has been welcomed and encouraged by the government.
In my eight months here, he added, there has never been criticism from senior government officials towards me or this embassy for meeting opposition groups or others he explained.
Urging a solution, he called for opposition leaders to accept the invitation for dialogue to end the political impasse and described Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society’s withdrawal from Parliament as a political mistake.
The American Ambassador also recognized Bahrain as being on the forefront for democracy in the region, and being different from other Arab countries. He also called for Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to step down, describing the situation as a humanitarian disaster. “It’s important to consider each country [in the region] individually.”
Ambassador Krajeski also criticized Iran’s attempts to utilize the unrest in Bahrain for their political agenda, as well as Iran’s continuous negative influence and propaganda through its news media, most of which is inaccurate and twisted.