COMBATING EXTREMISM: BAHRAIN ACTIVE PARTNER IN

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 06 MANAMA 001403 SIPDIS NOFORN STATE FOR R, P, NEA, NEA/ARPI, NEA/PI E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/20/2015 TAGS: PREL KDEM KPAO PTER EAID PHUM KMPI BA SUBJECT: COMBATING EXTREMISM: BAHRAIN ACTIVE PARTNER IN PROMOTING TOLERANCE AND MODERATION REF: A. A. STATE 159129 ¶B. B. MANAMA 1292 Classified By: Classified by William T. Monroe. Reasons: 1.4 (b)(d) -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (S) The United States and Bahrain are close partners in combating extremism and promoting tolerance and moderation inside the Kingdom. King Hamad is a recognized regional leader for his political and economic reforms and advancement of women's rights. He is fully committed to the global war on terror and shares and supports our policy objectives in the region. Bahrain hosts the U.S. Navy Central Command and cooperates closely with us on law enforcement and counter-terrorism initiatives. The GOB recognizes the challenge represented by Islamic extremism and has launched several initiatives to educate and moderate those in the extremist fringe. ¶2. (S/NF) Bahrain is an almost textbook case for participation in Middle East Partnership Initiative programs. It is fully engaged in political, judicial, economic, and educational reform, and is a leader in women's issues. Bahrain will host the November Forum for the Future conference as well as related conferences on women in the workplace and women's rights. Our programming and engagement runs the full spectrum of U.S. national interests: public affairs, political and economic reform, military intelligence exchange; military assistance and cooperation; security; and financial controls. Just as the GOB seeks to work with us on USG proposals, we are tailoring our programming to support Bahrain's priorities, most prominently in promoting voices of moderation. End Summary. -------------- King Launches Political, Economic Reform -------------- ¶3. (C) King (then Emir) Hamad launched a political and economic reform process upon succeeding to the throne in March 1999. Seeking to move away from the sporadic violence and sectarian tensions of the 1990s, the King held a successful public referendum on the "National Action Charter" in 2001 and issued a new constitution in early 2002. The constitution pronounced Bahrain a constitutional monarchy and led to the first nationwide elections since the early 1970s, for municipal councils and the lower house of parliament. 
The King and government concurrently launched economic reforms to open the economy further and promote transparency in commercial decision making. The U.S. and Bahrain signed a free trade agreement in September 2004, and the Bahraini parliament ratified the agreement in July 2005. The U.S. Navy Central Command headquarters is located in Bahrain, and the Kingdom hosts dozens of ship visits each year. Bahrain is generally supportive of U.S. policy objectives in the region. -------------- -------------- Bahraini Programs to Promote Tolerance, Moderation -------------- -------------- ¶4. (S) Bahrain's population is approximately two-thirds Shia and one-third Sunni; the ruling family and much of the government's senior officials are Sunni. The Sunni community includes Muslim Brotherhood members and sympathizers and Salafis close to counterparts in Saudi Arabia. There are fringe Salafis in Bahrain who are influenced by Al Qaeda, some of whom could try to carry out violent acts. The Shia community is composed of many trends, the majority following Iran's model of welayat al-faqih, or governance of the jurisprudent. Bahrain's Shia have a tradition of holding demonstrations, some of which have become violent. ¶5. (S) The Bahraini government is taking practical steps to promote tolerance and moderation. For the first time, through the Arab Civitas program, it has introduced civic education into the public school curriculum. The Ministry of Education is also developing its own texts to develop a sense of civic responsibility among youth. The Ministry of Islamic Affairs has initiated a program to educate clerics on Islam and the world. The Ministry issued to Bahrain's Imams standard language on tolerance for non-Muslims, for use in their sermons. It is now preparing a similar document on the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims and the treatment of non-Muslims in Islamic countries. The Ministry has invited American Muslims to participate in conference and seminars and has requested USG funding for a study tour of the U.S. by Bahraini clerics. (Ref B). ¶6. (C) The King issued a decree September 21 to form a Political Development Institute, attached to the upper house of Parliament, the Shura Council, and chaired by Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Women Lulwa Al Awadhi. On September 27, the Public Opinion Center for Media Projects opened, the first private organization to analyze and assess public opinion in Bahrain. Minister of Commerce and Industry Fakhro spoke at the opening, and the Center distributed its first study, on attitudes towards the Kingdom's municipal councils. Bahrain is an active participant in the G-8/Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) process, and will host the second Forum for the Future conference in November. It also will host an NGO conference on Women and the Workplace in October, the International Institute for Strategic Studies Gulf Security Dialogue in December, and a regional conference on women's rights in March 2006. -------------- -------------- U.S. Highly Engaged in Combating Extremism in Bahrain -------------- -------------- ¶7. (S/NF) The United States is highly engaged in combating extremism and promoting reform in Bahrain, from cultural and educational exchanges to democracy promotion and entrepreneurship development. Bahrain is an avid participant in Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) programming as well as regional initiatives the Entrepreneurship Center and the Gulf Legislative Resource Center. It is proud to be a leader for reform in the region. -------------- Programming: Public Affairs -------------- ¶8. (SBU) The Ambassador has sent a consistent message condemning violent extremism and promoting the President's freedom agenda through interviews, op-eds, and special events with media coverage. In September, Arabic daily Al Ayam published a full-page interview with the Ambassador covering the war on terrorism, the Iraq constitution, and democratic reform in Bahrain and the region. Similar interviews are planned with other major dailies during October. The IIP-generated op-ed on Afghanistan elections was placed under the Ambassador's name in daily Akhbar Al Khaleej, a consistent critic of U.S. policies. On September 11, the Ambassador brought together members of the diplomatic corps, Bahraini government officials, parliamentarians, journalists, and civil society leaders to denounce violent extremism and commemorate victims of terrorism around the world. The Ambassador spoke at the opening of a training session for Ministry of Justice officials about the dangers of trafficking in persons. Bahrain television broadcast a 30-minute interview with the DCM on the occasion of International Women's Day. International Visitor Programs -------------- ¶9. (U) The Embassy's International Visitors Program, the related Voluntary Visitors program, and Foreign Press Center tours, all offer powerful tools against extremism, particularly in the ability to reach young professionals and civil society actors as they are developing into leadership positions, and cultivating U.S.-Bahraini, regional and global relationships and mutual understanding that can last a lifetime. Embassy Manama has programmed over 70 Bahraini journalists, educators, government leaders, civil society actors, and student leaders in visitor programs since 2002. These programs have an impressive impact even in the near term. A recent example: an influential religious cleric and columnist Sayed Dheya al Musawi returned from his IV program "Interfaith Dialogue" and began immediately writing in the press about greater religious tolerance and against extremism. More long-term follow-up and alumni activities would help maintain the momentum of these programs. IV programs are often intense experiences, and the initial "buzz" participants feel can diminish when confronted with the same unchanged professional or political environment. Academic Exchanges -------------- ¶10. (U) The Fulbright Scholarship and Humphrey Fellowship have been in existence for decades and the PLUS undergraduate scholarship was instituted in Bahrain in 2003. The embassy public affairs section is currently negotiating with the Ministry of Education and ECA to establish a YES high-school exchange program for the 2006-2007 academic year. The PLUS and eventually the YES program have the greatest potential to be a force against the growth of extremism by reaching young people whose ideas are being formed. Youth are confronted with a barrage of information from Arab satellite networks, portraying on the one side negative images of U.S. culture and foreign policy, and on the other the rumblings of change and democratic reform efforts across the region. Young people returning from exchanges almost invariably speak of it as a mind-opening and a life-changing experience. These young opinion-leaders can be a leading force against the ignorance and misinformation about the U.S. that feeds extremism. MEPI-sponsored Young Leaders and Civic Participation -------------- -------------- ¶11. (U) In 2005, MEPI sent three Bahraini students to participate with other students from the region in a special six-week program on youth leadership and civic participation in such diverse settings as Montana, California, North Carolina, and New York. Judging from a debrief with PAO staff September 21, these students were deeply affected by this experience, and have already begun to share their leadership training skills and experiences in the U.S. with their peers and instructors. They are already in touch with their colleagues in the region about organizing a regional youth conference. This programming could be extremely helpful in cultivating a culture of civic participation, with its strong emphasis on community service and volunteerism. MEPI - Civic Education -------------- ¶12. (U) The Bahraini Ministry of Education Office of Curriculum Development, the Arab Civitas implementer, has successfully introduced a civic education curriculum - "Project Citizen" and "Foundations of Democracy" - as elective courses in two secondary schools, as well as training 35 teachers in the curriculum. This September, Scholastic Books trained 300 primary school teachers in the use of My Arabic Library, a MEPI funded primary school Arabic language children's reading curriculum. Civic education that stresses good citizenship and democratic values of tolerance and civic participation could have a positive impact on the next generation of Bahraini youth, and make it less likely for extremist views to take hold. MEPI - Broadcast Media Reform -------------- ¶13. (U) CHUM Television International is the implementing partner for a MEPI-sponsored project to build capacity in Bahrain Radio and Television Corporation for independent programming. Judging from the energy and receptivity of the state media to this project and the completion of CHUM's first assessment, this program has real potential to increase the independence of television programming in Bahrain, adding substantive local news content, and giving it greater editorial independence along the PBS model (with a Corporation for Public Broadcasting-type board of directors) and financial independence along the lines of BBC's commercial service. ACCESS Micro-scholarships -------------- ¶14. (U) The ACCESS English language microscholarship program is early in its development in Bahrain, but already it is a hit. It gives the Embassy access to a broad range of students we might never come in contact with, giving them the English language necessary to improve their job/academic skill-sets. As one parent put it at the graduation ceremony held at the American Cultural and Education Center in early September, "Thank you for educating our children." This program has excellent potential for building up a capital of goodwill toward the United States, strengthening opportunities among the region's youth, and thus diminishing the appeal of extremism. U.S. Speakers -------------- ¶15. (U) The U.S. Speaker program is a valuable tool to expose Bahraini society to American society and values, and build mutual understanding, lasting connections, and cultural interchange that is another antidote against the ignorance and lack of understanding where extremism grows. We are currently engaging with the Ministry of Islamic Affairs on a project to bring Muslim American speakers to Bahrain to dialogue about ways to increase messages of tolerance and moderation in order to combat extremism. U.S. Speaker Imam Yahya Hendi, of Georgetown University, will visit Bahrain during Ramadan 2005, and participate in Ramadan events, including an embassy-hosted Iftar public lecture, and majlis with the Under Secretary for Islamic Affairs Youth Outreach and Volunteerism -------------- ¶16. (U) Working through small capacity-building grants, and public outreach efforts, Embassy Manama is working with local partners to cultivate a spirit of volunteerism and civic participation. For instance, we recently awarded a Voluntary Visitor travel grant to the director of a new NGO dedicated to promoting youth volunteerism. She will attend training in the United States with professional volunteer organizations and NGOs that promote youth volunteerism, such as Virginia-based Volunteers for Change. A second small grant will help send experts to Bahrain in the next fiscal year to train teacher volunteers. English Language Programming -------------- ¶17. (U) English language programs develop the country's human capital and prepare students to become responsible citizens. The Regional English Language Office (RELO) placed a Senior English Language Fellow at the Ministry of Education curriculum department to help produce a curriculum designed not only to teach English language but also to support the Ministry's new initiatives in civic education. Bahrain has also received a number of English language specialists, all of whom have worked with teachers and teacher trainers to implement democratic classroom practices in the schools and to bring quality English language training to workplaces to help improve productivity in the workforce. ¶18. (U) RELO held a one-day conference on critical thinking attended by 200 English language experts. Bahrain had one participant in the Foreign Language Teaching Assistant program and we plan to increase that number significantly in the coming fiscal year. We sponsored eight E-Teacher program participants in Bahrain. RELO annually distributes approximately 800 English Teaching Forum magazines (200 subscriptions) as well as ECA-produced English teaching materials to teachers, teacher-trainers, and institutions in Bahrain. Ministry of Islamic Affairs - Voices of Moderation -------------- -------------- ¶19. (U) Per the item above on U.S. speakers, we plan to expand the number of Muslim American speakers in Bahrain. The Ministry of Islamic Affairs has requested U.S. support for a special International Visitor Program bringing Bahraini clerics to the U.S. to promote intercultural and interfaith dialogue and religious tolerance, to be requested in septel. Our hope is that this effort will amplify voices of moderation, tolerance and freedom. Civic Education -------------- ¶20. (U) In additional to their coordination with the Center for Civic Education on implementing civic education curriculum at the secondary school level, the Ministry of Education is developing their own primary and secondary school curriculum on civic education. They have developed four texts for primary schools with titles such as "responsibility," "privacy" and "authority." This progressive movement towards cultivating a sense of civic responsibility among youth is an important aspect of the movement towards democratic reform in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It also shows a sense of urgency on the part of the government to offset criticism for importing a Western formula for civic education by coming up with a formula of their own. In the long-term, such action will likely generate a greater generational stake in Bahraini civic life and help reduce the appeal of extremism. -------------- Programming: Political Affairs -------------- ¶21. (SBU) The Embassy's political reform programming focuses on promoting participation in the political system and building the capacity of political and civil society institutions. By getting involved in the political and civic affairs of the country, Bahrainis will seek to implement change through the system rather than from the outside. Political participation decreases citizens' susceptibility to extremist messages. American Bar Association (ABA) -------------- ¶22. (SBU) The MEPI-funded rule of law program implemented by the American Bar Association plans to bring short term impacts to Bahrain's justice system by improving case management and upgrading the capacity of judges and Ministry of Justice staff. The intended target of ABA's activities is relatively small -- justice system professionals in Bahrain -- but the number of those impacted by its programs is potentially very large, and includes those involved in civil and commercial legal cases. The program was launched soon after the MEPI-funded rule of law conference in summer 2003. We judge the program to be very effective in building up citizens' and investors' confidence in Bahrain's justice system. National Democratic Institute (NDI) -------------- ¶23. (SBU) The MEPI-funded NDI program seeks to strengthen Bahraini political and civil society organizations and to enhance their capacity to play a constructive and meaningful role in the Kingdom's political reforms. There are both short- and long-term benefits from the program. The intended target audience is medium -- those political and civil society organizations active inside Bahrain. The impact is larger, however, to include the organizations' members and potentially all of Bahrain's citizens, as political and civil society activity becomes more active and democratic. The program started in March 2002. We believe this program is extremely effective and want to see it continue as Bahrain continues along the path of democratization. Legislative Resources Center (LRC) -------------- ¶24. (SBU) MEPI awarded a grant to the State University of New York (SUNY)-Albany campus to establish a regional legislative resources center. The center would increase parliamentary member and staff access to critical knowledge, skills, information, and resources in order to support parliamentary performance. This is a long-term project with a potentially large audience, to include all parliaments and their staffs in the Gulf region. The grant was awarded over one year ago but SUNY-Albany is still in the process of identifying a partner/host institution. The Bahrain Center for Studies and Research has expressed interest in working with SUNY-Albany on the LRC. ¶25. (SBU) The Embassy also coordinates USG-funded programs on: - Trafficking-in-Persons and Domestic Violence Hotline Training; - Enhancing Accountability and Integrity in Electoral Systems; - Supporting Freedom and Reform Across the Gulf; and - Empowering Civil Society Organizations to Operate Like Institutions. -------------- Programming: Economic Affairs -------------- ¶26. (SBU) Our economic affairs programming is designed to support implementation of and compliance with the U.S.-Bahrain free trade agreement. The programming promotes enhancement of bilateral trade and investment relations, with a focus on improving economic growth and employment. An energized Bahraini economy that stimulates employment will improve the standard of living and help combat extremism. Bahrain Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence -------------- ¶27. (SBU) The USG, as part of the G-8/Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) initiative, is funding the establishment of an Entrepreneurship Center. The Center will provide training and technical assistance to entrepreneurs in the Gulf region at the "growth" stage of development. The project was launched in late 2004 and the Center will be formally launched at the November Forum for the Future conference in Bahrain. The target audience numbers about 100 per year and the impact should be significant relative to promoting economic growth and employment in the region. Business Internship Program for Women -------------- ¶28. (SBU) This MEPI project provides assistance to send young business women to the U.S. for an executive MBA and internship with an American company. The first group of participants went in summer 2004 and the program continues. The target audience is small. We judge the program to be very effective and support its continuation. MEET US -------------- ¶29. (SBU) This regional MEPI project provides training and networking opportunities for entrepreneurs throughout the MENA region, with a focus on business women. The project started in 2004 and has had an impact on up-and-coming Bahraini business people, and has had a positive impact on their perceptions of the United States. We seek to continue Bahraini participation in this project. Commercial Law and Development Program -------------- ¶30. (SBU) MEPI funds the U.S. Department of Commerce, Commercial Law Development Program to provide technical assistance and training to the Bahraini government on improving its commercial legal environment. CLDP is now providing assistance to the GOB to update its commercial code to cover e-commerce. Other projects have covered alternative dispute resolution and specialized commercial courts. This project has a very large impact on improving the business environment in Bahrain, particularly as we approach FTA ratification and implementation. ¶31. (SBU) The USG also funds training and technical assistance programs on: - Department of Homeland Security/Customs Training - USDA Sanitary and Phytosanitary Inspection - Environment Protection - USPTO IPR Protection. -------------- Combating Terrorism -------------- ¶32. (S/NF) In addition to programs to combat extremism, the USG, through the Embassy, has active and ongoing programs to improve Bahrain's ability to combat terrorism. The Defense Attache Office Bahrain manages and executes an intelligence exchange program designed to share terrorist threat information and enhance Bahrain's counter terror efforts. The program provides a process for maintaining an informal exchange of information and frequent dialogue with those in the host nation directly involved and concerned with combating terrorism. ¶33. (S/NF) The United States is providing assistance to the GOB to establish a joint counter-terrorism center, which would utilize the assets of several Bahraini agencies to deter, investigate and prosecute terrorist crimes. The FY 2005 Supplemental Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) allocations to support the global war on terrorism has tentatively allocated $1 million to assist in establishing this Center. The Embassy is implementing a five-year, $10 million plan of Anti-Terrorism Assistance (ATA) with funding in excess of $10 million for programs on terrorism investigation, border security and senior crisis management. The active participation of the Bahraini government has been excellent. ¶34. (C) The Office of Military Cooperation conducts exercises and training exchanges and coordinates military sales to promote interoperability and cooperation between the Bahrain Defense Force and the U.S. military. Further development of Bahrain's counter-terrorism capacity improves its ability to limit the ability of extremists to disrupt Bahraini society. ¶35. (C) The U.S. Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) presence at Embassy Manama coordinates with ministries of finance, central banks and regional and local financial institutions to combat terrorism financing and money laundering. OFAC also works with the new Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENA FATF) to promote best practices in fighting terrorism financing and money laundering. MONROE