Former Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner John Yates has been appointed to oversee reform of the police force in Bahrain, it has been reported.
He has been asked to overhaul the controversial service with John Timoney, a former head of Miami police, to ensure its procedures meet international human rights standards, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Mr Yates quit his job at the Met in July amid questions over his links with an executive at Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the phone hacking scandal, but was cleared of any misconduct by watchdog the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
Bahrain announced this week that Mr Timoney would lead a team of American and British advisers training the Gulf kingdom's forces after criticism of the violent crackdown against pro-reform protesters.
Mr Yates said he would draw on experience in the Met and from working on community policing programmes with Jamaican police.
"Bahrain's police have some big challenges ahead, not dissimilar to those the UK itself faced only a couple of decades ago, but I have been impressed that the King (Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa) is doing the right thing by pressing on with big reforms," he said.
"This is a big challenge which I will undertake with a great reforming police officer like John Timoney."
He added: "I look forward to speaking to Bahrain's chief police officers, going out with them on the streets to see the challenges they face, seeing what structures they have in place and helping them to deal better with public order, arrest and detention issues."