Iraq urges Bahrain to release footballer

Iraq has filed a plea with Bahraini authorities for the release of an Iraqi football player that was detained by the despotic regime for alleged participation in wide-spread protests against Manama. The 16-year-old player, Zulfiqar Naji, who plays for the junior squad of Bahrain's Al Muharraq football club, was arrested in April at his family home in the Persian Gulf island country. “The Iraqi Foreign Ministry asked in a letter to Bahraini Foreign Ministry about the case of Iraqi football player, arrested in Bahrain,” said Iraq's Deputy Foreign Minister Labid Abbawi, the Associated Press reported. The president of the Iraqi Football Association, Najeh Hamoud, has also stated that Baghdad is trying to “secure the release” of Naji. The player's father, Abdulameer Naji, said his son was “arrested because some of his friends in prison mentioned his name when they were questioned.” The news came only a day after a published report pointing to the torture of Bahraini football players, including the country's national team stars that were arrested during anti-regime demonstrations in March. The friends and relatives of the detained Bahraini footballers say that the professional players had been beaten up and subjected to long interrogations and humiliation while in custody. In a popular uprising, tens of thousands of Bahraini protesters have been holding peaceful anti-regime rallies throughout the country since February, demanding an end to the despotic rule of the Al Khalifa family, which has governed the oil-rich Persian Gulf for over 40 years with major backing by the US, Britain and neighboring Saudi Arabia.