Passport problems vex Jawher

NAIROBI, Mar 21 (Reuters) Bahrain's Kenyan-born athlete Mushir Salem Jawher expects to miss next month's London Marathon as the furore over his participation in a race in Israel means he does not have a passport to travel on.

Jahwer kicked up a storm when he became the first runner from an Arab state to run in Israel when he won the Tiberias Marathon in January, provoking outrage from Bahrain's athletics association.

The association said Jawher, formerly known as Leonard Mucheru, had broken regulations governing his citizenship.

''Bahraini immigration authorities have not sent my Kenyan passport to Kenya, while the Kenyan government is still detaining my Bahrain passport,'' Jawher told reporters.

''I can't enter the World Cross Country Championships without a passport. I still don't have my passport as we speak which means I am out of the London Marathon too.'' Jawher said the situation was making him reconsider his decision to run for Bahrain.

''These passport complications have become very expensive to me and I am considering defecting back to Kenya,'' he said.

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