Apparently being the head of the torture detail in Bahrain gets you in very good with the British royals. Just ask Sheikh Khalifa Bin Ali al-Khalifa. Khalifa is the former head of Bahrain’s National Security Agency (NSA) and will attend as the current Bahraini ambassador to London. Khalifa was head of the NSA from 2005 to 2008. In 2007, Human Rights Watch criticized Khalifa, alleging that detainees suffered electric shocks and beatings while in his agency’s custody. This week, the royal family rescinded invitations to Libyan and Syrian ambassadors to London because of concerns over human-rights abuses. Owing to recent conflict in the country, Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad al-Khalifa has chosen not to attend. Predictably, some have protested Ambassador Khalifa’s attendance at the royal wedding. Bahrani expat Moosa Abdul Ali Mohammed, who now lives in London, says he was abused and beaten by Khalifa’s underlings. “He is a bad man,” he said. “I was tortured while he was in charge. It’s a bad thing he is invited to the wedding.”
Bahrain ‘torture service’ official to attend royal wedding [Guardian UK]
