Four bombing suspects have been remanded in custody for 60 days in connection with a blast that killed three policemen in Daih last Monday.

The Bahrainis have been accused of setting up and being part of a terrorist cell, making and using explosives, premeditated murder  and attempted murder.

According to the Penal Code, the punishment for these crimes may go up to a death penalty or revocation of citizenship, said Chief Prosecutor Wael Buali yesterday at a press conference.

The suspects carried out surveillance on policemen using a mobile phone “app” which they also used to communicate with each other, he added.

Meanwhile, the Arab League yesterday condemned the blast. The league’s foreign ministers’ council which convened its 141st session in Cairo, Egypt, stressed the need to bring the perpetrators of the blast to justice.

The March 3 attack claimed the lives of Muhammad Arslan Ramzan, 22, Emirate Tariq Al Shehhi, 41, and Ammar Abdu Ali Al Dhalei, 35, who died when rioters remotely detonated an improvised explosive device.

It happened at around 5pm as police came under attack following a funeral procession of Jaffar Al Durazi, a Bahraini inmate with sickle cell anaemia who died in hospital on February 26.

It was the biggest death toll suffered by security forces in a single attack since anti-government radicals began a campaign of violence following the unrest in 2011.

Buali said all four suspects confessed to planning and carrying out the attack and making multiple explosives.

"The Public Prosecution received information about the Daih blast on March 3 which killed a police lieutenant, two officers and injured 10 policemen along with a civilian - who is a newspaper photographer," he said during a press conference yesterday.

"The four chief suspects were arrested just seven hours after committing the crime.

"The Public Prosecution questioned the four suspects, who confessed to carrying out the crime with the help of others.

"They said they planned out the attack and made the remote-controlled explosive device, which they detonated by using a mobile phone.

"They planted the explosive device on the highway the night before the attack.

"They then orchestrated rioting in the area so they can ambush policemen and lure them towards the location of the planted bomb before one of the suspects detonated the homemade explosive device.

"The suspects confessed to using a 'technical communication programme' on their mobile phones, where they shared orders with each other and carried out surveillances on policemen.

"They also said they received orders from a terrorist group abroad."

He said the suspects were connected to Al Ashtar Brigades - an illicit group that has claimed responsibility for terrorist explosions in Manama, Riffa and Bani Jamra.

He added some of the suspects were previously sentenced in absentia in similar cases.

Twenty-two other suspects were arrested during investigations into the blast, but it is understood they will stand trial in a different case.

"The 22 other suspects arrested after the incident are only accused of rioting and participating in illegal gatherings in Daih and other places," added Buali.

Pictures of the blast and evidence at the crime scene, including an explosive device that was defused, were shown at yesterday's press conference.

Two other blasts also occurred in the same village that threatened the lives of citizens and policemen.

A fourth bomb was discovered and defused.

GDN photographer Ebrahim Al Sinan was injured in the blast as he was standing around 10 metres from the officers who were fatally wounded. He was hit by shrapnel and suffered a lung injury.

Police earlier released the names and photographs of the four suspects; Abas Jameel Taher Mohammed Al Samea, 25, Ali Jameel Taher Mohammed Al Samea, 24, Taher Yousif Ahmed Mohammed Al Samea, 22, and Sami Mirza Mushaima, 40.

Police believe all four suspects received terror training in Iran.

The GDN earlier reported that the Emirati officer worked in Bahrain as part of the Amwaj Al Khaleej forces of the GCC Joint Security Agreement.

Meanwhile, prosecutors are still investigating a blast in the same area that injured two children, who were reportedly forced to plant an explosive device last Thursday.

"It is a very sad situation, those children were exploited which caused their injuries," said Buali.

"However, the suspects are not connected to this incident which is totally separate and the Public Prosecution is currently investigating the matter to bring those accused to justice as soon as possible." - TradeArabia News Service