Bahrain Mirror: The British "PoliticsHome" website said that a group of British MPs and peers have claimed the Omar Al-Hassan, the chairman of the Gulf Centre of Strategic Studies, has attempted to "silence" criticism of Bahrain's human rights record after they raised concerns in Parliament.

The website added that MPs in the House of Commons and Lords were subjected to extortion attempts and threats from the research center linked to the Embassy of Bahrain and Ambassador Fawaz Al Khalifa, in an attempt to quell these critical voices after raising Bahrain's human rights record in parliament.

The report noted that the Omar Al-Hassan sent a letter to MPs critical of Bahrain, threatening to send a letter to Speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, accusing them of making "biased and fabricated" criticisms of Bahrain.

One former staff member from GCSS, which has offices in London, Egypt and Bahrain, told PoliticsHome he believed the organization was a "Bahraini front".

He said in an interview that Al-Hassan had once instructed his staff to attend and "disrupt" an event in the House of Lords where a Bahraini whistleblower was set to speak.

According to the report, the group listed assets of over £1m in its 2020 accounts.

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