BAHRAIN ON TIMING OF FORUM FOR FUTURE, GCC,

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAMA 001578 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/17/2014 TAGS: PREL ECON BA SUBJECT: BAHRAIN ON TIMING OF FORUM FOR FUTURE, GCC, G8-REGIONAL MEETINGS Classified by DCM Susan L. Ziadeh for reaons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Ambassador October 16 told Foreign Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa that the Forum for the Future (FfF) meetings in Morocco would take place December 10 (sub-ministerial) and 11 (ministerial). He noted that Bahrain would host the GCC summit in December and suggested that the GOB ensure that the timing of the meetings not conflict. ¶2. (C) Shaikh Mohammed said that the GCC summit would take place on December 20 and the GCC Foreign Ministers meeting would take place on December 7. He anticipated that many of the ForMins would leave for Morocco directly from Manama. He asked about attendance at the Morocco meetings, noting that at the G8 summit at Sea Island, only six non-G8 member states were invited, but at the September meetings in New York, a much larger number of countries were represented. He asked for any information we had about the program for the Morocco sessions. ¶3. (C) Al Khalifa stated that during the September 24 FfF meeting in New York, he had proposed that Bahrain host the 2005 FfF meeting. He said that Egypt would host a meeting on January 10 of G8 and Arab Foreign Ministers, and Jordan would host an informal session on the margins of the May 2005 World Economic Forum meetings at the Dead Sea. He requested confirmation that Bahrain would host the December 2005 FfF meetings. MONROE