Bahrain Mirror: British Minister of State for the Middle East and North Africa Alistair Burt announced welcoming what he called "continuing progress and commitment to the democratic process in Bahrain".

The UK PM said in a tweet on his Twitter account "we welcome the successful conclusion of the first round of voting in Bahraini elections," adding that "Bahrain is one of only two Gulf countries with a democratically elected parliament and the UK welcomes continuing progress and commitment to the democratic process."

The minister didn't say any remark regarding the electoral process that took place amid application of broad political isolation involving opponents and loyalists, including previous MPs and main loyalist blocs, and amid isolation of the two main important opposition societies; Al-Wefaq and Wa'ad, in addition to the repressive political environment that was criticized by the major international human rights organizations, mainly Amnesty and Human Rights Watch.

Arabic Version