MODERATING SUNNI ISLAMIST SENTIMENT IN IRAQ:

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAMA 001915

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/28/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM IZ BA REGION
SUBJECT: MODERATING SUNNI ISLAMIST SENTIMENT IN IRAQ:
BAHRAIN

REF: STATE 231032

Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe. Reason: 1.4 (b)(d)


1. (C) The Ambassador on December 28 conveyed reftel talking
points to Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid Al-Khalifa urging
help in reaching out to Sunni and other contacts in Iraq.
Shaikh Khalid responded that Bahrain wants to help in any way
that it can. He said that Bahrain has many contacts in Iraq,
and that he would discuss with the Bahrain leadership what
steps Bahrain could take.


2. (C) Shaikh Khalid said that Bahrain shares our view that
the new government be as inclusive as possible. He hoped
that whoever forms the new Iraqi government not come with a
sectarian agenda. In that connection, he noted that the
outgoing Minister of Interior was widely viewed as blatantly
sectarian ("a complete agent of Iran"),and it was critically
important that the Ministry of Interior not be seen as having
a sectarian agenda. At the same time, while Bahrain has had
concerns about Iranian influence on Iraq's Shia, it would be
important that these concerns not be countered by a
Sunni-Kurdish alliance against the Shia. The goal should be
to find leaders who promote national unity, not sectarian
interests.
MONROE