A top UN human rights official wants to postpone his visit to Bahrain next month to May because of a change in his schedule, a senior government official said.

Minister of State for Human Rights Affairs Dr Salah Ali said Bahrain had invited the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to showcase the kingdom's reforms in political, economic and human rights fields.

He said the official had requested delaying the visit to May owing to academic obligations, according to a report in our sister publication, the Gulf Daily News.

"Bahrain will continue welcoming officials from UN agencies and prestigious human rights organisations," Dr Salah Ali said, explaining that over 80 Arab and international human rights organisations or entities have visited the kingdom since the outbreak of the unrest in February 2011.

The minister said Bahrain had pledged at the UN Human Rights Council's session last September to submit a report on its human rights practices after two years, which, he noted, is a proof of the government's transparent approach.

He confirmed that the government had nothing to hide from UN officials and reiterated its readiness to cooperate with any specialised UN agency or human rights organisation wishing to visit it in order to write objective, professional, credible and ambiguity-free reports. – TradeArabia News Service