A top working group of ministers and senior government officials will meet today to discuss the implementation of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry's (BICI) recommendations.

His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa chaired an extraordinary Cabinet meeting at his Court in Riffa yesterday and announced the government taskforce.

Information Affairs Authority (IAA) president Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa told our sister newspaper, the Gulf Daily News, that the working group would meet to discuss mechanisms for the findings of the report.

"The Bahrain government welcomes this report and the Cabinet has set up a working group that will discuss the recommendations," said Shaikh Fawaz.

He said that the mandate stated the working group should meet again next week to oversee the progress made.

The team will submit a proposed work plan before the Cabinet convenes for its weekly session.

Shaikh Fawaz said that it was too premature to analyse the report as it required proper study.

He said that in terms of freedom of expression, there were many recommendations by the National Dialogue that were presently being studied by parliament.

The amendments to Press Law were also among the 291 recommendations in the Dialogue that ended in July, said Shaikh Fawaz, adding that work was in progress.

"I can say that six of the 17 visions in this regard have been implemented, while others are under review," he said.

IAA international relations adviser Shaikh Abdulaziz bin Mubarak Al Khalifa described the BICI report launch as a "brave" step by His Majesty.

"This is historically moving forward and the Cabinet has set up a working group to follow up the recommendations," he said. "This working group is going to look into all the issues and will be advised by international experts to take all the right steps. I think this will set a roadmap for the future."

Social Development Minister and Acting Health Minister Dr Fatima Al Balooshi, who is a member of the working group, said it was imperative to ensure laws were in line with human rights principles.

"We have invited the United Nations human rights office to share their expertise with us in this regard," she told reporters following the launch of BICI report.

Meanwhile, Dr Al Balooshi said that all those patients denied treatment at the Salmaniya Medical Complex during the unrest could benefit from the National Compensation Fund. – TradeArabia News Service