The Kingdom of Bahrain has notified the United States that it plans to end its economic boycott of Israel. This came in a special message from the Bahraini Minister of Finance to the American trade representative in Bahrain. The Bahraini minister, Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa, said that "Bahrain recognizes the need to withdraw the primary boycott against Israel and is developing the means to achieve this."
According to press reports, the Bahraini move was taken after the Bush administration made lifting the boycott a precondition to the establishment of a free-trade zone with the kingdom. "We received a report from the Americans saying that the Bahrainis told them they were going to eliminate the boycott," said an Israeli Foreign Ministry official. "We have not received anything from the Bahrainis. If this is true that would be a good thing."
