VIGILANTES ATTACK RESTAURANT IN NAME OF MORALITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MANAMA 000409 SIPDIS CAIRO FOR STEVE BONDY, LONDON FOR ETHAN GOLDRICH E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/21/2029 TAGS: PINS ASEC PGOV KISL BA SUBJECT: VIGILANTES ATTACK RESTAURANT IN NAME OF MORALITY REF: A. MANAMA 389 ¶B. MANAMA 379 ¶C. MANAMA 336 ¶D. MANAMA 237 ¶E. 03 MANAMA 2980 ¶F. 03 MANAMA 2686 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Robert S. Ford for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. For the second time in two weeks, mobs of Shi'a youths ransacked on March 17 a place of "unethical practices," destroying an upscale restaurant known to serve alcohol. Similar to last week's unruly mob that broke into private residences identified as vice dens in two Shi'a neighborhoods, the attack on La Terrasse restaurant was well organized. The Ministry of Interior has vowed zero tolerance for this type of behavior in the future, but police response on March 17 was slow and indecisive. The hardline opposition has publicly justified these attacks on the moral ground of cleaning up neighborhoods after a tone-deaf GOB has refused to enforce the law. Despite Bahrain's extensive security preparations (ref b),the opportunity to embarrass the GOB during the Bahrain Formula 1 race in early April could be too much of an opportunity for the Shia extremists to let pass. We think more attacks on establishments like La Terrasse (i.e. isolated in proximity to a Shi'a neighborhood) could happen. END SUMMARY. -------------- IN THE NAME OF MORAL CORRECTNESS -------------- ¶2. (C) On March 17, a group of 40-50 Bahraini youths approached a residence identified as a vice den, and menacingly harassed the owner for selling alcohol out of his home. According to a reliable Embassy contact from the Youth Forum (strictly protect) some of the men brushed past the owner, checking rooms for alcohol and prostitutes. They interrupted two prostitutes at work and made the customers flee. Carrying knives, sticks, chains and Molotov cocktail, the group proceeded right past the Khamis police station to La Terrasse restaurant. Wearing scarves to conceal their faces and chanting "Haram, Haram" (Arabic for "forbidden") some of the juvenile offenders rushed inside, smashing everything in sight and attacking patrons. The press reported that a South African customer was injured by a club studded with nails and one of the attackers was stabbed in the stomach by a customer defending himself. Most patrons fled the premises, but some British and Americans (at least 4) locked themselves in the restaurant bathroom and called the police. According to one of the co-owners, the raid lasted about an hour. ¶3. (C) After the attackers left, those who hid in the restaurant bathroom sought refuge at the Ritz Carlton. They told PolOff on March 17 that the police did not respond to their telephone calls for help. Restaurant co-owner J.J. Bakhtiar (the grandson of former Iranian Prime Minister Bakhtiar) told the press that the police stood outside the restaurant during the raid for 20 minutes without acting. A close friend of the owner told PolOff on March 18 that the owner had received threats in the past but was not threatened on this particular night. Bakhtiar related to PolOff that the death threats delivered in Farsi have resumed and inspection of the premises on March 18 revealed that the attackers doused the back wall of the restaurant with gasoline. Bakhtiar surmised that the attackers planned to burn his restaurant to the ground but inexplicably moved on before setting the restaurant on fire. Co-owner Khalid Abdulla Hejris recalled that La Terrasse had been last attacked on the night of the late Januray Eid al-Adha, resulting in a marked loss of business. Bahktiar related to PolOff that the Eid attack involved Molotov cocktails thrown on the restaurant roof. ¶4. (C) President of the Youth Forum Rashid Al Ghayib, who has excellent contacts among young Shia, told PolFSN on March 21 that these attacks and those of the week before were carefully planned over a long period of time. Five vice dens in the Al Makharga and Al Malkiya areas of downtown Manama were raided by Shi'a youths after weeks of surveillance. The youth completely destroyed the bars and brothels. At least five individuals were injured during the attacks. Just hours after the attacks, one of the assailants posted at www.malkiya.com an 8-minute video with a music soundtrack of the vandalism. -------------- GOB REACTION -------------- ¶5. (C) The GOB denounced the violence and gave assurances that these violent acts will not reoccur. For example, the Chairman of the Council of Representatives Khalifa Ahmed Al Dhahrani warned that acts of sabotage and violence harm national economic and political reforms, and will take the country back to the time of troubles. The GOB sent the Embassy a diplomatic note asserting that the GOB will not allow this type of violence to happen again. The MFA MinState told the CDA on March 23, that they will "not permit any kind of disruptions." Undersectary of the Ministry of Interior (MOI) Shaikh Daij told RSO on March 22 that security forces have entered into Phase One of the Formula One security plan. The increased visible police presence should guarantee citizen safety and expand coverage of GOB response to any vigilante acts, he said. -------------- -- BAHRAINIS CONDEMN VIOLENCE AND BLAME THE POLICE -------------- -- ¶6. (U) Outrage at the attacks reverberated through newspaper editorials. Columnist Ali Saleh argued that Bahraini citizens suffer because the GOB won't stand up to conservative Islamists. Abdulla Al Ayoobi declared that these violent attacks are the direct result of continued rhetoric in Parliament that started with the Nancy Ajram concert (see reftel f),followed by the shut down of the television show "Big Brother." (see reftel c). The indecisiveness of the police to quell the violence gave commentator Ahdeya Ahmed, a normally liberal voice in the papers, an argument for the GOB to bring back the oppressive State Security law to re-empower the police forces. ¶7. (C) Most representatives of political, business, religious, and cultural societies condemned the incident at La Terrasse as illegal, unjustifiable and irresponsible. Prominent Shi'a religious cleric Shaikh Isa Qassim told the press, "you can't fight vice with another vice." In Al Wasat on March 22 prominent pro-reform Shia cleric Shaikh Dhia Mousawi denounced the violence and addressed the youth, "by doing what you did, you have offered a free service to those who want to reinstate oppression and the State Security Law." President of the Youth Forum Rashid Al Ghayib told PolFSN on March 21 that his constituency condemned the attacks for their violence, but also asserted that actions taken were in direct response to the police doing nothing to close down these vice dens. Privately, some well-to-do Sunnis recognized that the problem results from bad GOB real estate zoning decisions. An Undersecretary in a Ministry told CDA on March 22 that La Terrasse was attacked because the GOB denies zoning permits to any tourism establishments in Riffa, but allows places like La Terrasse to open next to Shi'a neighborhoods. A prominent businessman told CDA that places like La Terrasse with their alcohol and loud patrons are provocative because they are not zoned away from residential neighborhoods. -------------- HARDLINERS JUSTIFY EVENTS -------------- ¶8. (C) Hardline Shi'a oppositionists sought to place full blame for these incidents on the GOB. After speaking with some of the rioters, Al Wifaq President Shaikh Ali Salman was quoted in the press claiming that the attack was fueled by grievances over lack of jobs, low salaries, politics and citizenship. He blamed the Ministry of Interior for the outbreak of violence since it did not respond to the numerous complaints from residents about vice dens in Shi'a neighborhoods. Shi'a chat rooms echoed with comments. One participant justified the attacks with the complaint that while tourism establishments are banned in Riffa (where the Al Khalifa royal family lives) they are allowed in Shi'a neighborhoods. On March 19 the four boycotting opposition societies issued a statement to "Al Ayam" in which they reluctantly rejected the sabotaging of public and private properties, but then turned on their heels and justified the incidents as "mere popular reactions to unacceptable national actions." -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (C) The hardline Shia opposition within Al Wifaq is on a roll. The "Martyr's Day march on National Day (December 17, 2003) and February's constitutional seminar successfully embarrassed the GOB. Using Sunni Islamist parliamentarians' moralist rhetoric as political cover, they have added to the GOB's embarrassment with last year's Nancy Ajram riots, and through the recent attacks on neighborhood purveyors of alcohol. An ineffective police response to the Shia vigilantes' vandalism, arson, assault, and battery, along with continued moral outrage at police unwillingness to crack down on vice in Shi'a neighborhoods, leads us to expect more vigilante behavior. ¶10. (C) The owner of "La Cave" restaurant confirmed what the French Ambassador told P/E Chief on March 24 that his isolated, upscale, alcohol-serving restaurant has received threats that it will be attacked next. The expansion of targets from illegal alcohol and prostitution purveyors to a legal restaurant in proximity to Shi'a neighborhoods is disturbing, especially as we approach a Formula One race (April 14) that is expected to draw thousands of hard-drinking European visitors. The hardline opposition has shown a pattern of scheduling major incidents, demonstrations, attacks, and conferences, to embarrass the GOB. During F-1, we cannot rule out an attack on morality grounds on an isolated restaurant that serves alcohol. END COMMENT. FORD