BAHRAIN: DEMARCHING INVITEES TO THE U.S.-EU

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAMA 000792

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2015
TAGS: PREL ASEC BA IZ EUN
SUBJECT: BAHRAIN: DEMARCHING INVITEES TO THE U.S.-EU
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON IRAQ

REF: A. STATE 94861


B. STATE 93742

Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
.


1. (C) Ambassador June 1 delivered Ref B demarche concerning
the invitation to the June 21-22 international conference on
Iraq in Brussels to Minister of State for Foreign
Affairs/Minister of Information Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar.
Abdul Ghaffar, who spends much of his time now at the
Ministry of Information, was unaware of the conference but
promised to look into it. (Note: Ambassador had spoken
earlier with British Ambassador to Bahrain Lamb, who
represents the EU in the Kingdom, about a joint delivery of
the invitation, but Lamb said he had not received
instructions to deliver the invitation. End Note.)


2. (C) Pol/Econ chief also delivered Ref B demarche to MFA
Assistant Under Secretary for Coordination and Follow Up
Shaikh Abdul Aziz bin Mubarak Al Khalifa June 1. Shaikh
Abdul Aziz noted that Foreign Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin
Mubarak Al Khalifa had received an invitation to attend the
conference directly from Brussels the previous day. The
Foreign Minister planned to attend the conference. He had
been scheduled to be in Singapore to attend a meeting of an
Asian-Middle East council, but it was more important that he
be in Brussels to demonstrate support for the Iraqi
Transitional Government.


3. (C) Shaikh Abdul Aziz said that the Bahraini Embassy in
Baghdad reported that Iraq was on the brink of civil war. He
said that the international community needed to do all it
could to increase stability in Iraq. If basic human needs
were not met, life was not worth living, leading people to
join the insurgency. Shaikh Abdul Aziz hoped the Brussels
conference would bring a measure of hope to the Iraqi people.

MONROE