Bahraini king meets Putin as Manama convicts 'Iran-backed terrorists'

President Vladimir Putin hosted the King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa for talks focused on the Syrian crisis and economic cooperation.

Putin hailed Bahrain as one of Russia's most "important partner in the Gulf and the entire Middle East" at the start of the talks Monday held in the president's residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Putin presented the Bahraini king with a horse of an ancient Akhal-Teke breed, which has won several international competitions. 

The king gave the Russian president a sword made of Damascus steel.

Speaking after the talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the two countries agreed to boost economic and military ties.

He said both countries spoke in support of Syrian peace settlement.

Russia, along with Iran, is a key ally of the Syrian regime whose army is backed by thousands of Hizballah fighters.

Convicted of Iran-backed terrorism

Meanwhile, Bahrain's prosecution service said Monday it has charged 11 suspects with forming a "terrorist" group, including a number trained by Iran's Revolutionary Guards and the Hizballah branch in Iraq.

The group, including four suspects on the run, has been charged with "establishing and joining a terrorist group; possessing explosives, weapons and firearms; and receiving training for terrorist purposes", Advocate General Ahmed al-Hamadi said.

He said four suspects "attended military training camps operated by Iran's Revolutionary Guards and the Iraqi branch of Hizballah", although it was unclear if they were the fugitives.

The charges were filed after a probe into a weapons cache found in a warehouse in the Shia village of Nuwaidrat, he said in a statement.

"In excess of 1.5 tonnes of high-grade explosives, including C4-RDX, TNT and other powerful chemical explosives were discovered in the counter-terrorism operation in September last year," he said.

The kingdom, home to the US Fifth Fleet, has witnessed unrest since the repression of a protest movement launched in 2011 by members of the Shia-majority population demanding political reforms.

Bahrain has repeatedly accused Shia-dominated Iran of meddling in its internal affairs, a charge denied by Tehran.

Scores of opponents have been detained, with many facing trial, while others convicted of involvement in violence have been handed heavy sentences, including loss of citizenship and life in prison.