Manama, Bahrain  - Bahraini police on Thursday broke up a protest calling for a halt to the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Protesters set the US flag on fire before disbanding.

No immediate clarification was given as to why police dispersed this protest, after allowing almost daily protests on the Gulf island nation since the Israeli offensive began.

Manama, Bahrain - The US Navy's 5th Fleet Command which oversees all naval operations of a US-led coalition in the Middle East announced Thursday the establishment of a new task force specifically for counter-piracy operations.

Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151) is be composed of naval ships and "assets" from more than 20 nations, the US military said in a statement.

US Navy Rear Admiral Terence McKnight has been named the commander of the new task force which is set to be fully operational by the middle of January.

Manama  - Two Bahrainis have been detained as suspected terrorists and at least two others are being sought over an alleged terrorist plot which authorities said they uncovered.

A National Security Authority statement quoted an unnamed official as saying homemade explosives would have been used to disrupt National Day and Accession Day celebrations that were observed on Tuesday.

Manama, Bahrain - Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) said on Thursday that it decided to cut its key policy interest rate by 75 basis points, after reviewing the decision taken by the US Federal Reserve two days earlier.

"Effective immediately, the CBB's rate on the one-week deposit facility is 0.75 per cent down from 1.50 per cent previously," a CBB statement said.

The statement which pointed out that the CBB's lending standing facilities remain available for banks at their initiative to assist them to meet their liquidity needs also said that the rate on the overnight deposit facility would be adjusted to 0.25 per cent, from 1 per cent previously.

Manama, Bahrain - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates called on the international community to exercise more economic pressure on Iran in line with UN resolutions to help bring a halt to its nuclear programme and expanding power in the region.

Gates, who was speaking during an address to the Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain, also urged Gulf countries to include Iraq in the Gulf Cooperation Council and forgive Baghdad's debts.

Manama, Bahrain  - The speaker of the Syrian People Assembly, Mahmoud al-Abrash, said on Tuesday that allegations of a secret military nuclear programme by his country were fabricated.

"There are attempts to accuse Syria of having a military nuclear programme despite all the assurances and the reality on the ground that prove that Syria has no nuclear programme," al-Abrash told repoters in Manama at the end of an official two-day visit to Bahrain.

"We don't have a nuclear program but we have a plan that aims to rid the region of mass destruction weapons and we are honestly pointing out the fact that Israel is the country with the largest arsenal of mass destruction weapons in the region."