Bahrain Mirror: UK-based daily The Guardian said reported that "MPs and rights groups have reacted with dismay over the use of a secretive £1bn government aid and security fund to pay for a Royal Marines band to play in Bahrain for the Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday, despite the country's dire human rights record."

"Funds from the conflict, stability and security fund (CSSF), which is aimed at tackling conflicts and building stability overseas, were used to send the Royal Marines band to Bahrain in April 2016 at a cost of £25,000 to the taxpayer," the British daily added.

The Guardian also added that the Queen's birthday event, held at the British embassy in Manama, was sponsored by HSBC and British Airways. Some 200 guests attended, including deputy prime minister Sheikh Khalid bin Abdulla al-Khalifa, a key member of the ruling family.

The documents, obtained by Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird) and seen by the Guardian, also reveal that the band's visit was just one of 37 events, exchanges or training programs offered to Bahrain by British armed forces since 2015, raising the possibility of UK complicity in abuses.

"The training, which took place in Bahrain and in the UK, and was paid for by a mixture of CSSF, UK military and Bahrain government funding, included elite commando training, officer training at the Sandhurst military academy, and bomb disposal training", the Guardian added.

It also included Royal Navy visits to Bahrain and Royal Air Force training in "air battle management" to improve the Gulf state's strike capability. This will dismay those who say Bahrain is playing a key role in the controversial Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen.

In addition to paying for the Royal Marines band, CSSF money was also used to deploy an officer from the British Army to serve with the Bahrain Defense Force. And up to £70,000 from the fund was used in counter-improvised explosive device training. It is not clear how the use of the fund in Bahrain supports the prevention of conflict, prompting allegations that the CSSF is being misused.

"If the British government is really interested in Bahrain's stability, it should criticize its Gulf ally for crushing the life out of its peaceful opposition," said Nicholas McGeehan, a Bahrain researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Instead it seems to play the role of cheerleader-in-chief, rolling out the red carpet, and providing British pomp and splendor at every available opportunity, while Bahrain fills its jails. British MPs should be asking very serious questions about this use of taxpayer's money."

The revelation that one of Britain's most prestigious military bands played in the kingdom raises the question of London's complicity in whitewashing abuse in Bahrain.

Tom Brake MP, the Liberal Democrat spokesman for foreign affairs, said: "This act shows that rather than putting human rights abuses first, the prime minister would rather send a marching band to sing lavish praises for a nation whose view of democracy and freedom of speech is simply shocking."

A UK Ministry of Defense spokesperson said: "Where we have concerns about human rights we will continue to raise them at an appropriate level, both in private and in public. Any assistance of training complies with our domestic and international human rights obligations."

Sayed al-Wadaei, director of advocacy at the London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird), called for the CSSF and the UK's "toxic relationship" with Bahrain to be raised as an election issue.

He told the Guardian: "With little transparency, the government is spending taxpayer's cash propping up a dictatorial regime in Bahrain which maintains its rule through imprisonment and torture of critics. Bahrain and its ally Saudi Arabia contribute to the problems - not the stability - of the Middle East, and the toxic relationship to these repressive countries shames Britain."

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