Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05MANAMA910
2005-06-28 08:33:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Manama
Cable title:  

MEPI-FUNDED NDI PROJECT COMES UNDER FIRE

Tags:  PGOV KMPI KDEM PREL BA 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

280833Z Jun 05
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000910 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, NEA/PI, DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/27/2015
TAGS: PGOV KMPI KDEM PREL BA
SUBJECT: MEPI-FUNDED NDI PROJECT COMES UNDER FIRE


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

-------
Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000910

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, NEA/PI, DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/27/2015
TAGS: PGOV KMPI KDEM PREL BA
SUBJECT: MEPI-FUNDED NDI PROJECT COMES UNDER FIRE


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

--------------
Summary
--------------


1. (C) The MEPI-funded National Democratic Institute (NDI)
project in Bahrain has attracted criticism from many
directions recently. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
Abdul Ghaffar has privately expressed his concerns to the
Ambassador several times that NDI gives too much emphasis to
opposition views at the expense of government supporters. MP
Mohammed Khalid, an outspoken opponent of the United States,
complained that NDI should not be "the custodian of the
democratic process in Bahrain." Shia cleric Shaikh Issa
Qassem attacked NDI in his June 17 sermon, saying that NDI is
a "modern cultural invader" and enemy of religion and Islam.
Following NDI's demand for a retraction, Al Wifaq President
Shaikh Ali Salman said publicly that Qassem was not referring
to NDI in his comments. Despite the overheated rhetoric, we
have detected no change in the GOB's full support for NDI,
and we consider the project to be essential to achieving our
democratization policy goals. End Summary.

--------------
Abdul Ghaffar Complains of NDI Slant
--------------


2. (C) NDI's Bahrain project has come under fire from
government officials, parliamentarians, columnists, and, most
recently, the Kingdom's most prominent Shia cleric. Minister
of State for Foreign Affairs/Information Minister Mohammed
Abdul Ghaffar has expressed concern to the Ambassador on
several occasions in the past few months about NDI's
activities. Abdul Ghaffar, who was likely under instructions
from the Cabinet, complained that NDI was too sympathetic to
the (Shia) opposition's perspective and provided a platform
for their views at seminars and workshops without allowing
other (pro-government) points of view. Abdul Ghaffar also
claimed that NDI Director Fawzi Guleid was not keeping the
GOB informed about his activities. The Ambassador told Abdul
Ghaffar that the USG strongly backed NDI's activities in
Bahrain. He emphasized that NDI always partnered with a
local organization and ensured a wide range of views in its

seminars. He also gave Abdul Ghaffar a copy of NDI's program
of activities, which Guleid had passed to the Minister a few
months earlier.


3. (U) In an ironic turn, Abdul Ghaffar appeared before the
Council of Representatives (COR - elected lower house of
parliament) June 14 to defend NDI. MP Shaikh Mohammed
Khalid, a member of Al Minbar (Muslim Brotherhood) bloc in
the COR and a vociferous opponent of the United States, told
Abdul Ghaffar that a foreign establishment (NDI) should not
"come here and become the custodian of the democratic process
in Bahrain." Abdul Ghaffar responded that NDI is not
crossing any red lines and is helping promote democracy. He
pointed out (accurately) that Al Minbar is an avid
participant in NDI activities. Khalid said he was proud to
be a member of Al Minbar but that he does not share its views
about "this suspicious institute."

--------------
Cleric Brands NDI "Enemy of Religion"
--------------


4. (SBU) Bahrain's senior-most Shia cleric Shaikh Issa
Qassem attacked NDI in his June 17 sermon. (Note: Qassem
has publicly criticized NDI in the past; in June 2004, he
complained that NDI had not officially registered with the
GOB like other organizations. This is still the case, but
NDI is in the process of negotiating an MOU with the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs.) Qassem said, "This government, like all
other governments, is very sensitive to any local political
role played by a foreign country or organization... We ask,
why the exception for NDI? What are the justifications?...
Their intervention is not only harmful to the government but
to the people as well. To a great extent, it is a modern
cultural invader, an enemy of religion, an enemy of earthly
interests, and an enemy of the peoples of this faith (Islam)."


5. (C) Guleid called on the Ambassador June 21 and said that
he had just departed a meeting with leading Shia opposition
society Al Wifaq President Shaikh Ali Salman. Guleid had
passed Salman a letter from NDI/Washington Middle East Senior
Director Les Campbell to Qassem demanding an explanation and
retraction of his comments. Guleid reported that Salman had
promised to take up the matter with Qassem and stressed that
he (Salman) did not share Qassem's opinion about NDI. Guleid
told the Ambassador that Qassem had no right to make the
types of statements he did. It was legitimate to oppose
NDI's programming, but Qassem's comments about NDI being an
enemy of Islam were "beyond the pale." Guleid was worried
that radicals in other countries where NDI operates with
large Shia populations, including Iraq and Lebanon, could
pick up Qassem's statements and possibly consider attacking
NDI personnel in the name of Islam.

--------------
A Retraction, Of Sorts
--------------


6. (C) Perhaps in response to NDI's demand, Qassem said in
his June 24 sermon, "We must be wise and reasonable even with
foreign antagonistic rhetoric against Islam. We must be
vigilant and alert but we must be as far as possible from
fatwas of terrorism and incitement. We must not spread the
language of violence in the local and international
community. Our school is a school of peace, security,
stability and dialogue. Our slogan remains 'the dialogue of
civilizations' instead of 'the clash of civilizations.'" In
an article in the June 27 edition of the independent Al Wasat
newspaper, Salman told a reporter that Qassem did not mean
NDI when he described foreign intervention as the enemy of
religion. Guleid told us he had requested that the offending
portions of Qassem's June 17 sermon be removed from the
cleric's website. He was, however, satisfied with the
statements of Qassem and Salman and would now drop the matter.


7. (U) The usual bunch of anti-American columnists have
jumped on the bandwagon to criticize NDI. Mahmeed Al Mahmeed
of Akhbar Al Khaleej newspaper suggested in his June 17
column that if NDI had been Saudi or Iranian, suspicions
would have been raised much sooner. Adel Al Marzook, also
from Akhbar Al Khaleej, wrote on June 18, "The current agenda
of NDI is the agenda of the American political rhetoric.
When the priorities of U.S. policy change, NDI's role will
also change." In contrast, Sawsan Al Shaer of Al Ayam
newspaper June 20 questioned the validity of the critiques of
NDI. She wrote that the motivation behind the criticism is
political and that those coming down hard on NDI have yet to
prove that the organization's activities are harmful to
Bahrain's national interest.

--------------
Comment
--------------


8. (C) Despite recent criticism in Bahrain, we have detected
no change in the GOB's full commitment to NDI. The Royal
Court, in particular, is a strong supporter. This incident,
however, demonstrates the sensitive nature of the political
issues NDI works on, and highlights Bahrainis' distress about
perceived outside influence in their fledgling democracy. We
consider NDI programming to be an essential tool in achieving
our democratization policy objectives.

MONROE