Bahrain: Hezbollah Trying to Overthrow Govt

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Bahrain has accused the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah with seeking to overthrow the island-state's ruling family, in a report to the United Nations, escalating the growing cold war between Sunni Arab states and Shiite-dominated Iran.

The confidential report, sent to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last week, alleges that Hezbollah has been training Bahraini opposition figures at camps in Lebanon and Iran. Bahrain's government also accuses Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other senior members of the Islamist Lebanese organization of directly plotting with Bahrain's largely Shiite opposition on how to challenge the ruling Khalifa family.

Iran, Hezbollah and Bahrain's opposition movement deny they have been cooperating in organizing the monthslong protests, which have largely been contained since Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf countries dispatched troops to bolster the Khalifa regime.

U.S. intelligence officials said they have tracked communications between Iran, Hezbollah and Bahraini opposition groups since the uprising began in February. The State Department has stressed it believes the Bahrain protests were born out of the opposition's legitimate demands for greater political rights, rather than being orchestrated by Tehran.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also has criticized the Bahraini crackdown and called for a return to a political dialogue.

Bahrain is 60% to 70% Shiite Muslim, and the protest movement's leaders have been seeking greater economic and political rights in a country dominated by the Sunni minority.

In the report, Bahrain called on the U.N. to try to constrain Iran's activities in the Gulf. "Several terrorist acts carried out in Bahrain have revealed that many Bahraini Shiites received military training from Lebanon's Hezbollah," reads the 13-page report, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. "Evidence confirms that Bahraini elements are being trained in Hezbollah camps specifically established to train assets from the Gulf."

The report doesn't list any major terrorist plots exposed in recent years, but makes reference to events as far back as the 1980s.