GAZA CITY: A high-level Bahraini delegation will arrive in Gaza on Thursday to open two UNRWA schools, the enclave’s Hamas rulers said on Tuesday, denying it would be led by one of the royal princes.

“A high-level Bahraini delegation will visit Gaza on Thursday headed by Mustafa Al Sayyed, Secretary General of the Bahraini Royal Charity Organisation (RCO),” said a terse statement issued by Taher Al Nunu, spokesman for the Gaza government.

The statement was issued shortly after two separate sources — one close to the Hamas government and another from the UN refugee agency — said the delegation would be led Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad al-Khalifa, a son of the Bahraini king.

Government sources in Manama also denied claims that Sheikh Hamad would visit Gaza on Thursday, saying the delegation had already set off under the leadership of Sayyed.

“There was never any question about Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad visiting Gaza,” a Bahraini government source told AFP.

He said it was the fourth time the charity had visited Gaza and said the delegation would deliver humanitarian aid and inaugurate several schools there.

(gulftoday.ae / 30.10.2012)