CABINET SHUFFLE IMMINENT; NEW FOREIGN MINISTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 001375

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ARPI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/24/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL BA
SUBJECT: CABINET SHUFFLE IMMINENT; NEW FOREIGN MINISTER


Classified By: Classified by Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1
.4 (b and d)


1. (C) Begin Summary: Newspapers and Embassy sources
indicate another cabinet shuffle is expected soon, possibly
by the end of this week. Foreign Minister Shaikh Mohammad bin
Mubarak Al Khalifa, is expected to step down and we are told
will be replaced by Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmad Al Khalifa,
Bahrain's current Ambassador to the U.K. Minister of
Information Dr. Mohammad Abdul-Ghaffar will retain that
portfolio, but may no longer be double-hatted, as the
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs post which he also
encumbers may be eliminated. Minister of Cabinet Affairs
Abdulhussain Ali Mirza is slated to be the head of a soon to
be created Energy Council designed to eventually supplant the
Oil Ministry. End Summary.


2. (C) Shaikh Hamad bin Ebraheem Al Khalifa, Senior Advisor
to King Hamad, confirmed to the DCM September 21 that
Bahrain's Ambassador to the U.K. Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmad Al
Khalifa would be named the new foreign minister in the coming
few days. Shaikh Hamad stated that the King knew Shaikh
Khalid from his early days in the government when he was
working the issue of relations with Qatar and Bahrain's case
with the International Court of Justice to establish it's
sovereignty over the Hawar Islands. According to Shaikh
Hamad, the King was impressed with him from that time, and
has tracked his career ever since.

Time for New Blood
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3. (C) Shaikh Hamad praised the current foreign minister as
a stalwart trooper who had done a great job over a 33-year
period, but lamented that on some levels Shaikh Mohammad had
been saddled with old thinking. He questioned his support
for pan-Arab causes exclaiming "what did it get us?" We need
new blood to go with the changing times, someone to focus
more specifically on GCC issues and develop relationships
with the new generation of younger leaders in the Gulf. He
stated that Shaikh Mohammad had developed relations with
former Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Shaikh Sabah Al-Ahmad, and to
a lesser extent Oman's Yusif bin Alawi, but not so much with
others in the GCC. Bahrain wants to strike out in a new
direction, Shaikh Hamad said, and the King believes Shaikh
Khalid is the right man to do this.


4. (C) Ministry of Foreign Affairs Assistant Undersecretary
for Coordination Shaikh Abdul-Aziz bin Mubarak Al Khalifa
told the DCM September 24 that he looked forward to working
with Shaikh Khalid who has been a close friend since
childhood. He indicated that Shaikh Khalid finished boarding
school in Jordan and went on to college in Austin, Texas.
After his earlier stint in the MFA in Bahrain, he served at
the Bahraini Embassy in Washington from 1984 until the early
1990's. He then was assigned to the staff of the Crown
Prince's court for a period before assuming his current
ambassadorial post in London.

Other Possible Changes
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5. (C) Shaikh Hamad indicated that Minister of Cabinet
Affairs and Tenders Board head Abdulhussain Ali Mirza would
soon be tapped to establish a new Energy Council (Hay'at
al-Taqah). The Council would have oversight and regulatory
responsibilities on all energy matters, injecting fresh
thinking into what he termed "a moribund Oil Ministry".
Shaikh Hamad stated that Mirza's experience gained from years
with oil company Caltex will serve him well in his new
position. He pointed to potential future projects to address
Bahrain's energy needs, including natural gas importation
from Qatar which could be locally processed, and drilling for
heavy oil deposits in the Awali fields utilizing recently
developed American technology. "We need creative technocrats
who can think outside of the box."


6. (C) While insisting it is only rumor, Shaikh Abdul-Aziz
disclosed that he is 90 percent sure that the Minister of
State for Foreign Affairs position will be eliminated, but
quickly added that Dr. Abdul-Ghaffar would remain the
Minister of Information. He concluded by noting that while
everyone knew there would be a major cabinet shuffle, no one
expected it to take place this quickly.


7. (C) Comment: Since taking on the additional portfolio
of Minister of Information, Abdul-Ghaffar has obviously been
overburdened trying to do both jobs and has, in fact, been
spending increasingly less time on his MFA responsibilities.
With a younger Shaikh Khalid replacing Shaikh Mohammad as
Minister, we would expect the new Minister to play a more
active day-to-day role on MFA matters, picking up some of the
slack that would be left by a departing Abdul-Ghaffar from
the MFA. While Shaikh Abdul-Aziz, who had preceded Shaikh
Khalid as Ambassador in London, may have hoped for the
foreign minister position himself, the departure of
Abdul-Ghaffar will also enhance his stature and
responsibilities.

MONROE