King of Bahrain in talks with UK prime minister

Britain's prime minister and the king of Bahrain meet in London as part of a fence-mending exercise after British disapproval of Bahrain's violent suppression of protests in the spring.

LONDON // Britain's prime minister and the king of Bahrain met in London yesterday as part of a fence-mending exercise after British disapproval of Bahrain's violent suppression of protests in the spring.

A spokesman for the prime minister, David Cameron, said he had stressed to King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa the importance of the rapid implementation of the recommendations of last month's report on the excessive force used by Bahrain's security forces against the protesters.

Privately, though, the UK government is please that King Hamad has already ordered his cabinet to adopt the measures to enhance human rights and punish those guilty of violence against the protesters, proposed in the report by the commission set up by Bahrain's rulers.

"Relations between the UK and Bahrain have been strained over the crackdown on protesters, particularly the killings and allegations of torture," a diplomat in London said yesterday.

"Both sides now want to get things back on an even keel and the king's reaction to the [commission's] report has helped this process enormously.

"To be honest, a lot of people in government here did not expect him to embrace such a damning report so readily. Now, the Bahrainis have to put their words into action.

"The early signs are that their cabinet is doing just that."

There had been no publicity beforehand of the meeting between the king and Mr Cameron, apparently because British officials feared demonstrations at Downing Street by Bahraini opposition supporters in Britain.

In May, Mr Cameron was criticised in Britain after he hosted a visit to Downing Street by Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Bahrain's crown prince.

The visit included a photo-call of the two men warmly shaking hands, provoking protests from opposition MPs that the prime minister was "rolling out the red carpet" just weeks after the worst of the violence in Bahrain.

The British, however, have been keen to maintain their trade links with Bahrain and were grateful to the crown prince for declining his invitation to Prince William's wedding amid fears that his presence would spark protests.

Since the publication of the commission's report last month, John Yates, a former assistant commissioner at Scotland Yard, and John Timoney, a former police chief in Miami, have been hired as advisers to Bahrain's police.

The British foreign secretary, William Hague, had warned Bahrain that the "world will be watching to ensure that it acts decisively in the coming days and weeks to address the serious abuses identified" in the commission's report.