Al-Halboosi leaves Baghdad for Manama to participate in IPU meetings

Shafaq News/ Iraq's Parliament Speaker Mohammad al-Halboosi on Friday left Baghdad for the Bahraini capital, Manama, to take part in the 146th General Assembly meetings and the 211th session of the Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), a press release from al-Halboosi's media office said.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union is an international organization of national parliaments, founded in 1889, that aims to promote democracy and cooperation among its members.

The 146th General Assembly meetings and the 211th session of the Governing Council are expected to bring together parliamentarians from around the world to discuss a range of issues related to democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.

Bahrain, a U.S. ally, will from Saturday host the 146th assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), an international organization with the motto "For democracy. For everyone".

The Bahraini authorities raised controversy following its decision to revoke entry visas issued to Human Rights Watch to attend an international parliamentary conference.

The event would have marked the first time that HRW representatives had been able to enter the Gulf state since 2012.

HRW, which has permanent observer status with the IPU and was granted the visas earlier this year, had on Monday called for conference attendees to raise concerns about what it called "the serious repression of human rights in Bahrain".

Rights groups, including HRW, have criticised Bahrain for holding international events, such as last week's annual Formula One race, as a way of distracting from repression of political opposition.

The Sunni Muslim-ruled state has, since a 2011 anti-government uprising led largely by its Shi'ite Muslim community, jailed thousands of people, including opposition leaders, sometimes in mass trials. It has also dissolved leading opposition groups.