France attentive to Bahrain situation

In the wake of a car bomb in Manama on December 22, in which there were no reported casualties, France said on Thursday that it was closely monitoring events in the Kingdom and Paris condemned all acts of violence there. "We condemn violence in all its forms and we are following attentively the situation in Bahrain," the Foreign Ministry said here. "France supports the dialogue launched by the Bahraini authorities which must be followed up on in order that a lasting political solution be found that is in conformity with the aspirations of all Bahrainis," deputy spokesman Vincent Floreani said. He said that France continued to support the recommendations made by independent observers in the so-called "Bassiouni" report that was compiled almost two years ago.