A Bahraini politician has bemoaned the timing of a shooting incident less than two weeks before the upcoming grand prix on the small Arab island.

"This is very bad timing," DR Jassim Husain Ali Ghuloom told the Gulf Daily News, "just ahead of the F1 (race)."

"It has unfortunately made the news across the region."

A bus driver was killed when he was shot in the head outside an upmarket hotel in Bahrain's capital, Manama, amid speculation that the incident involved a US Marine.

Current travel advice on the website of Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade warns that there is a "high threat of terrorist attack" in Bahrain, which is located in the troubled Persian Gulf.

The warning said: "We continue to receive reports that terrorists are planning attacks against Western interests in the region."

"Commercial and public areas known to be frequented by foreigners are possible terrorist targets."

Source: GMM