British investigators have arrived in Bahrain to help examine explosive materials seized from alleged bomb making factories in Hamad Town and Salmabad, according to a report.

A team of experts from London's Metropolitan Police has apparently been tasked with assisting local authorities following the discovery of five tonnes of explosive materials and 110 litres of chemicals.

Dangerous substances, which could have resulted in "massive destruction, death and damage", were confiscated during the raids, Public Security chief Major- General Tariq Al Hassan said during a Press conference last Thursday.

Homemade explosives packed with iron pellets, pipes used to make bombs, mechanical tools used in the manufacturing process of such devices and gas cylinders were among the items recovered.

The Metropolitan Police said it was up to the host country to confirm what assistance, if any, had been requested.

Interior Ministry officials also declined to comment, but Interior Minister Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa said during an official visit to the UK that "foreign expertise" had been sought to study the confiscated material to speed up its investigation.

He met Home Office Minister James Brokenshire, British intelligence agency MI5 director-general Jonathan Evans and Northern Ireland Minister Hugo Swire, among other key officials.

Police earlier said they were hunting three key suspects, named as Radhi Ali Radhi Abdulrasool, Jaffar Hussain Mohammed Yousif Eid and Dhafir Saleh Ali Saleh. Reports have since claimed the men attended Hizbollah training camps in Lebanon. – TradeArabia News Service