Supreme Defence Council (Bahrain)

The Supreme Defense Council (SDC) (Arabic:مجلس الدفاع الأعلى) is Bahrain's highest defense authority and is responsible for making highest level of decisions regarding defense and security. It consist of 14 members drawn entirely from the Al Khalifa ruling family. It is headed by the King, who is also the Supreme Commander of Bahrain Defense Force (BDF) and it includes: the Crown Prince (king's eldest son), the Prime Minister (king's uncle), the Royal Court Minister and ten senior officials from the Al Khalifa family such as the Commander-in-Chief of BDF, and the heads of certain government agencies, such as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Interior, Minister of Defence and Director of the National Security Agency (NSA).

Meetings are usually held at Al-Sakhir Palace.

The Supreme Defense Council was founded on 8 December 1973 and was led by the current prime minister, Khalifa ibn Salman Al Khalifa, a position he held until his nephew, Hamad (current king) took over from the passed Amir on 6 March 1999.

In November 2011, Khalifa bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, the king's cousin, and then the director of the country's National Security Agency (NSA), was appointed at the position of Secretary General of the Supreme Defense Council, after a governmental commission of inquiry report confirmed the use of torture by NSA which led to the death of a co-founder and board member of the independent Alwasat daily newspaper. This move was criticized by Ali Salman, the head of Al Wefaq main opposition party, who called it "a promotion for someone who should have been punished according to the recommendation's of BICI".

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