BAHRAIN: ENCOURAGING SUPPORT FOR AND FULL

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAMA 001880 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/15/2014 TAGS: PREL ASEC IZ BA SUBJECT: BAHRAIN: ENCOURAGING SUPPORT FOR AND FULL PARTICIPATION IN IRAQI ELECTIONS REF: SECSTATE 254809 Classified By: WILLIAM T. MONROE, REASONS 1.4 (B,D) ¶1. (C) NEA Deputy Assistant Secretary Philo Dibble delivered reftel message to Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar December 13. Abdul Ghaffar said the GOB had encouraged Sunnis to participate in Iraqi elections and would continue to do so. ¶2. (C) PolEcon chief also delivered reftel points to MFA Director for Bilateral Affairs Dhafer Al Umran December 14. Al Umran stated that the GOB shares the U.S. view on full participation by all of Iraq's communities in the elections. He referred to the boycott of the 2002 parliamentary elections by many in Bahrain's Shia community and said that Iraq's Sunni should not make the same mistake. "Those who boycott," he said, "lose the ballgame." Al Umran stated that during Saddam's regime, the Sunni were the big fish, and the community was worried about its future status in Iraq. MONROE