His Royal Highness Prince Hj Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minster's Office, who is on an official visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain, yesterday toured the Bait al-Quran, or the House of Quran in Manama.

The institution's museum houses historic Quranic manuscripts from various parts of the Islamic world, representing a progression of calligraphic traditions from the first century of the Islamic era to present day.

From the Bait al-Quran, His Royal Highness consented to attend a luncheon in his honour by the Minister-in-Attendance, Sheikh Fawaz bin Mohammed bin Khalifa, the President of the General Organisation for Youth and Sports.

His Royal Highness arrived in Bahrain Friday night, accompanied by Prince Abdul Qawi.

During the visit, His Royal Highness will meet with His Highness Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Bahrain and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Bahrain Defence Force and His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

This is the first official visit of His Royal Highness to Bahrain, which will further enhance the existing warm and friendly relations between Brunei Darussalam and the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries was established on September 24 1988.

The Kingdom of Bahrain is an archipelago of 36 islands located off the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia.

The kingdom has a population of 700,000 of whom over 30 per cent are non-nationals. Some 66 per cent of the indigenous population originated from the Arabian Peninsula and Iran; 98 per cent of the population are Muslims. - Borneo Bulletin (13th April 2008)