Bahrain: Two Bahraini MPs had to be separated by their colleagues yesterday when one threatened to beat the other with a piece of Arabic clothing and knock his teeth out until he begged for mercy.
MP Ahmed Qarrata delivered the threat after MP Abbas Al Madi, a former athlete, vowed to “stomp a mud hole” in the former’s abdomen and beat him until he collapsed.
The flare-up brought parliament’s weekly meeting to a standstill and resulted in the session ending early, with Mr Al Madi still shouting as he was escorted out of the chamber by other MPs.
It happened after Mr Al Madi became enraged when he was interrupted as he stood up to complain about the number of foreigners working in Bahrain’s public sector.
Mr Qarrata accused him of repeating “the same crap all the time”, but then threatened to extract an apology from Mr Al Madi by force after the latter told him to be quiet.
That only provoked Mr Al Madi further and he left his seat to confront Mr Qarrata, shouting: “I will stomp a mud hole in your abdomen Qarrata,” as other MPs held him back.
Mr Qarrata dared him to “be a man” and challenge him, but MPs restrained Mr Al Madi as he urged them to let him go.
“Leave me, don’t hold me up,” he said.
“I don’t want to hurt you, as I am saving it for Qarrata.”
Mr Qarrata, who was also being restrained by MPs, threatened to beat Mr Al Madi unconscious with his agaal (the black ring that holds the Arabic headdress in place).
“I will bash you with my agaal until I don’t hear a word from you,” said Mr Qarrata.
“If that’s not enough, I will knock your teeth out one by one until you beg for mercy.”
MPs tried silencing Mr Qarrata by covering his mouth with their hands, but he shouted: “Don’t touch my mouth, it’s none of your business. It is between me and this *******.”
The session descended into chaos during discussions about the European Parliament, which last week passed a resolution criticising Bahrain’s treatment of prisoners and calling for a death row inmate to be pardoned.
Mr Al Madi strayed from the topic to champion another parliamentary proposal, which had already been rejected, that would have resulted in all expats leaving government posts within five years.
During the fracas MPs shouted to acting parliament chairman MP Jamal Dawood to end the session and switch off all microphones, which he said he had already done as he ducked out of the chamber with other parliament officials.
It took several MPs to drag Mr Al Madi from the chamber, while he shouted that he was still in the mood for a fight.
“Trust me, I will beat sense into your (inaudible) now, later – at any time,” he shouted at Mr Qarrata.
As he watched Mr Al Madi being escorted from the chamber, Mr Qarrata branded him a “Hulk” and shouted that MPs should have let him teach his colleague “a lesson with his fists”.
mohammed@gdn.com.bh
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