BAHRAIN: INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIP ON AVIAN AND

UNCLAS MANAMA 001314 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR EAID ECON KSCA PREL SOCI TBIO BA SUBJECT: BAHRAIN: INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIP ON AVIAN AND PANDEMIC INFLUENZA REF: STATE 164134 Sensitive but unclassified; please protect accordingly. Not for Internet distribution. (SBU) Pol/Econ chief delivered reftel demarche concerning joining the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza to MFA Director for International Organization Affairs Ghassan Shaikho by telephone on September 9 and in a meeting on September 11. Shaikho pledged to relay the substance of the demarche to Foreign Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, who is currently out of the country and will be in New York for the High Level Event (HLE) and the UNGA, and to relevant ministries. He will also pass the Statement of Core Principles to the staff of Crown Prince Salman, who will lead the Bahraini delegation to the HLE. Shaikho wanted to know if joining the Partnership implied a commitment of resources at this time, and he inquired whether other countries, in particular Arab and Gulf countries, would join the Partnership. He recognized the importance of this humanitarian issue and said the Bahraini mission to the UN would follow up in New York. MONROE