Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06MANAMA13
2006-01-03 14:38:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Manama
Cable title:  

GOVERNMENT REACTS TO PUBLIC CRITICISM OF REGIME

Tags:  PGOV PHUM KDEM BA POL REFORM 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000013 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/02/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM BA POL REFORM
SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT REACTS TO PUBLIC CRITICISM OF REGIME

REF: A. 05 MANAMA 1916

B. 05 MANAMA 1910

C. 05 MANAMA 1506

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 000013

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/02/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM BA POL REFORM
SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT REACTS TO PUBLIC CRITICISM OF REGIME

REF: A. 05 MANAMA 1916

B. 05 MANAMA 1910

C. 05 MANAMA 1506

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

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


1. (C) In response to their public statements critical of
the regime, the government briefly detained Shia cleric
Mohammed Al Sanad December 25 (Refs A/B) and questioned
activists Ibrahim Sharif and Abdul Nabi Al Ekry December 28.
In their comments to Kuwaiti newspaper Al Qabas in
mid-December, Sharif and Al Ekry criticized the regime and
gave statements that the government may have interpreted as
questioning the legitimacy of Al Khalifa family rule in
Bahrain. An Interior Ministry official told the press that
the two were asked to clarify their statements to Al Qabas,
but said they would not be prosecuted. In the face of
increasingly aggressive actions from the Shia majority, the
government appears determined to try to set some limits in
terms of violence at demonstrations and provocative
statements that question the very legitimacy of the Al
Khalifa regime. End Summary.

-------------- --------------
Sharif Criticizes Reforms, Cites Shia Support for Country
-------------- --------------


2. (SBU) Following quickly on the heels of the brief
detention of Shia cleric Shaikh Mohammed Al Sanad December 25
for anti-regime statements issued from Iran (Refs A/B),the
Bahrain National Security Agency (BNSA) December 28
separately summoned activists Ibrahim Sharif and Abdul Nabi
Al Ekry to discuss their mid-December public comments to
Kuwait newspaper Al Qabas that were critical of the
government. Interior Ministry official Colonel Buhumood told
the press December 29 that BNSA officials had explained to
him that Sharif and Al Ekry had been called in to clarify
their statements to the newspaper. He said that the BNSA
officials had cautioned the two activists on the importance
of understanding the legal limits of acceptable speech. He
announced that the government has no intention of bringing a
case to the public prosecutor.


3. (SBU) Sharif is the president of Al Waad ("The Promise")
society, which applied for registration with the Ministry of

Justice as a political society in late October and is still
awaiting a response (Ref C). Formerly known as the National
Democratic Action Society, Al Waad is one of the four
boycotting political societies. It is a secular socialist
organization with a small but influential membership. Sharif
told Al Qabas that the reforms of King Hamad were "not true"
and that without a partnership between the authority and the
people, there would not be stability in Bahrain. He affirmed
that the opposition in Bahrain has always called for
reforming the regime and never suggested changing it. He
refused to question the loyalty of Bahrain's Shia population,
saying that it was their support that gave Bahrain its
independence and affirmed the Al Khalifa as the ruling family
in a 1970 UN referendum, rejecting a relationship with Iran,
which had a territorial claim on Bahrain.

-------------- --------------
Al Ekry Says Regime Bolsters Its Interests, Not Nation's
-------------- --------------


4. (SBU) Al Ekry is a board member of the Bahrain Human
Rights Society and a former exile who returned to Bahrain
following the King's launch of the reform process in 2000.
Al Ekry organized the November "parallel" Forum for the
Future conference for NGOs that took place a few days prior
to the official Forum, and to which the GOB contributed some
$100,000. He discussed several hot-button issues in his
interview with Al Qabas, including the practice of granting
citizenship to Sunnis who have worked in the military and
security services, foreign laborers and their impact on
unemployment, human rights, and the independence of the
judiciary.


5. (SBU) In perhaps the most controversial comments, Al Ekry
accuses the government of not being truly committed to
reform. He says, "By organizing so many protests and
demonstrations, the Bahraini people were able to some extent
to expose the lie that Bahrain is a democracy and that it
does not discriminate... The sect that the government
identifies with is the one that shares its interests. There
are alliances among those who benefit from the ruling regime
and there are also discriminatory policies because the regime
is governed by tribal and sectarian fanaticism. That is why
there are discriminatory policies against Shia, those of
Persian origin, tribes that are not allied with the regime,
and those who hold opinions different from the state... We
have freedom of expression but we cannot criticize the ruling
family and the King is a taboo area."


6. (SBU) Following their meetings with BNSA, Sharif told the
press that officials had understood from his comments to Al
Qabas that he was "inciting the people against the regime,"
which Sharif denied. Al Ekry said that he told the BNSA that
his comments should be viewed in the context of his
statements over the past five years, since he returned from
exile. He said, "We believe in the reform project that the
King is leading, but I explained to the officials that this
project must be pushed forward."

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


7. (C) The accusations of Sharif and Al Ekry, combined with
Al Sanad's late November statement saying that the Bahraini
regime is "suffering from a lack of legal legitimacy" and
declaring that the sole solution to Bahrain's political
problems is "a new constitution drafted by elected Bahrainis
and monitored by the UN away from the interference of the
current regime," hit the government where it hurts -
criticizing the regime and even questioning the legitimacy of
Al Khalifa rule. Al Sanad's and Sharif's references to the
1970 UN-administered referendum on Bahrain's future also
reopens an old wound. In that vote, all sectors of Bahraini
society supported Bahrain's independence (from Iran) and
established the Al Khalifa as the rulers of the country.
Suggestions that another referendum should be held, or
reminders that to some extent, the Al Khalifa owe their
position to support from Bahrain's Shia, irritate the ruling
family.


8. (C) Comment continued: The government has been fending
off increasingly aggressive actions from its Shia majority
for the past month, including violent clashes between
demonstrators and police, the recent discovery of a cache of
Molotov cocktails in a Shia neighborhood, and international
pressure campaigns organized by Shia Bahraini exiles in the
West. It is also concerned about the impact of events in
Iran and Iraq on Bahrain's Shia community. In this context,
it is increasingly edgy about opposition tactics and appears
determined to try to set some limits in terms of
demonstrations that turn violent and provocative statements
that question the very legitimacy of the Al Khalifa regime.
We expect tensions to remain elevated in the lead up to May's
municipal elections and October's parliamentary elections.

MONROE