FT: 'US & Bahrain secretly extend defence cooperation'

"The US and Bahrain sec retly extended their defence co-operation agreement in 2002, it has emerged. The pact, which governs the home port of the US navy’s fifth fleet, was extended by five years and now runs until 2016.
The extension means Wash ington will avoid having to renegotiate the deal, which was set to expire next month, while the Middle Eastern kingdom is still cracking down on mainly Shia pro-democracy activists. ..."