Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07MANAMA198
2007-03-02 06:56:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Manama
Cable title:  

RELEASE OF TWO DETAINEES RESTORES CLM TO SHIA

Tags:  PGOV ASEC KISL BAPOL 
pdf how-to read a cable
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OO RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHMK #0198/01 0610656
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 020656Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY MANAMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6489
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 0646
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 1302
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 0661
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 0902
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 1185
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0982
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0894
RUEHYN/AMEMBASSY SANAA PRIORITY 0648
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV PRIORITY 3583
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 0275
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 2636
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHBVAKS/COMUSNAVCENT PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 MANAMA 000198 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 1258: DECL: 02/27/2017
TAGS: PGOV ASEC KISL BAPOL
SUBJECT: RELEASE OF TWO DETAINEES RESTORES CLM TO SHIA
AREAS, FOR NOW

REF: A. MANAMA 0113

B. MANAMA 0096

C. MANAMA 0093

Clasified By: DCM Susan L. Ziadeh for reasons 1.4 (b) nd (d).

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

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 MANAMA 000198

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 1258: DECL: 02/27/2017
TAGS: PGOV ASEC KISL BAPOL
SUBJECT: RELEASE OF TWO DETAINEES RESTORES CLM TO SHIA
AREAS, FOR NOW

REF: A. MANAMA 0113

B. MANAMA 0096

C. MANAMA 0093

Clasified By: DCM Susan L. Ziadeh for reasons 1.4 (b) nd (d).

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


1. (C) ing Hamad February 25 ordered the release of twoShia detainees who had
been tried, convicted, and imprisoned
for distributing illegal literature durng the fall 2006
election campaign season. Thei release ended some ten days
of sometimes violen demonstrations in and around their two
neighborng villages, which resulted in a nearby major road
being blocked several times. According to a Minitry of
Interior (MOI) press statement, a young mn arrested for
participating in the demonstratios told police about a
training camp on a farm ouside the village of Bani Jamra
where some 35 yout learned to make and throw Molotov
cocktails. Snni-friendly newspapers ran the story under
bannr headlines declaring discovery of a "terrrist training
camp," while a Shia-run paper printed a satirical story with
photos of bored barnyard animals labeled as terrorists. The
controversy demonstrates the raw nature of sectarian
relations and highlights the challenges the government faces
as it tries to navigate a fine line between keeping order,
addressing Shia grievances, and maintaining its Sunni base.
End Summary.

--------------
King Orders Detainees Released
--------------


2. (SBU) King Hamad February 25 ordered the release of two
Shia citizens who were convicted in early February of
distributing illegal subversive literature during the fall
2006 pre-election period and given sentences of one year and
six months (respectively) in prison. The two detainees,
Mohammed Al Sahlawi and Hussain Al Habashi, thanked the
political leadership "and all those who have exerted efforts"
to gain their release. Al Sahlawi said he hoped theirs would
be the last opinion case that enters Bahrain's courts because
"we live under the reforms project that is built on freedom
of opinion." Leading Shia political society Al Wifaq issued
a statement hailing the move, which it considered "to be a
step on the right path."


3. (SBU) Al Sahlawi and Al Habashi's release comes after

some ten days of demonstrations in and around their two
nearby villages, which straddle a major artery between Manama
and the northwestern town of Budaiya. The protests and
clashes between participants and security forces, with
burning tires and tear gas, forced the closure of the road
several evenings and resulted in the arrest of some youth.
One of those arrested on/about February 18 told police that
he and a companion, who was also arrested, had received
training along with some 35 others at a camp on a farm near
the village of Bani Jamra. According to the Ministry of
Interior, they said they learned how to make and use Molotov
cocktails to attack security forces and police. The MOI
issued a statement to the press February 19 that it had
"uncovered a plot to destabilize the country through
organized systematic riots," some of which had already taken
place.

--------------
Headlines Scream About "Terrorist Camp"
--------------


4. (SBU) Local newspapers Al Watan and Akhbar Al Khaleej,
which are close to the government and present the news with a
pro-Sunni slant, ran articles February 20 covering the MOI
statement under bold headlines announcing the discovery of a
"terrorist training camp" near Bani Jamra. They also printed
a photograph of a box of empty glass bottles identified as

MANAMA 00000198 002 OF 004


materials for Molotov cocktails that were seized at the camp.
Over the next few days, these papers ran several articles
and commentaries condemning this apparent Shia conspiracy
inside the country. Daily Al Wasat, a newspaper reflecting
Shia issues, slammed back on February 21, running a full-page
satirical article about having "stormed terrorist training
strongholds" in Bani Jamra and finding a donkey that lost its
ear at the camp, a flock of sheep participating in drills, a
dog waiting for his orders, and the chimpanzee who is the
"leader of the terrorists." A number of pastoral photographs
showing bored barnyard animals accompanied the article. Al
Wasat also pointed out that the photo of empty bottles in a
box that was printed in Al Watan and Akhbar Al Khaleej had
been distributed by the Ministry of Interior in January 2006
about an incident that took place in a different part of the
country.


5. (SBU) About 100 Bani Jamra residents February 23 staged a
peaceful protest to repudiate the accusation that their
village was the site of a training camp. That same day, the
MOI press office released a statement attempting to clarify
the information it had obtained from the two arrested youth
and distancing the Ministry from Al Watan and Akhbar Al
Khaleej's breathless headlines and coverage. The statement
read, "It has been noticed lately that some newspapers and
writers exaggerated the Ministry's statement about arresting
a person possessing a Molotov cocktail. This statement
included the confession of the accused and did not refer to a
specific area because the incident could happen in any part
of the country." It called on journalists to be more
accurate and objective and to refer to the Ministry's
statements without embellishment. It released two new
photographs of the camp showing a small plot of land with
some scrubby plants and seven empty glass bottles lying on
the ground.

--------------
Clerics Call For Calm
--------------


6. (SBU) In their Friday prayer sermons on February 23, Shia
clerics Shaikhs Isa Qassem and Abdullah Al Ghuraifi and Sunni
cleric Shaikh Salah Al Jowder all denounced the recurring
street violence. Qassem called on youth to stop burning
tires and disrupting the flow of traffic. He said, "We are
against this and we demand the youth to stop doing it." Al
Ghuraifi said there are crises and tensions in the country
that must be addressed properly so they do not result in
extremism and violence. Al Jowder complained that threats to
the country's security come as a result of sectarian and
terrorist cultures that enter Bahrain from neighboring
countries.


7. (C) During a February 22 meeting, Al Wifaq foreign
relations liaison Saeed Al Majed told Pol/Econ Chief that MOI
Chief of Public Security General Zayani had phoned Al Wifaq
Secretary General and MP Shaikh Ali Salman before the MOI

SIPDIS
released its February 19 statement about the training center.
According to Al Majed, Zayani was worried about how Shia
youth, who had already been involved in demonstrations for
days, would react to the news. He reportedly requested that
Salman do what he could to calm people down.

-------------- -
Interior Official Blames Press for Controversy
-------------- -


8. (C) General Zayani told the Ambassador that there was a
real location in Bani Jamra where training had been taking
place. He said the police had been directed to the site by
one of the youth they had arrested. The detainee had said
that people had gathered there to learn how to make and throw
Molotov cocktails. He indicated that there was not a lot of
material at the farm, but there had been instruction going on
there. He emphasized that the Ministry of Interior had never
said that this was a terrorist training camp. He blamed the
press for making an issue out of it - the Sunni papers for

MANAMA 00000198 003 OF 004


exaggerating the "terrorism" aspect of the camp, and Shia Al
Wasat for attacking the Ministry of Interior so harshly.


9. (C) Information Minister Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar told the
Ambassador at a function that people were very angry at Al
Wasat for its satirical article, saying that Al Wasat was
mocking the MOI and this was something that simply should not
be done. Al Wasat, in effect, had crossed the line with this
piece, he said. Al Wasat Editor-in-Chief Mansour Al Jamry
happened also to attend the function, and he and Abdul
Ghaffar soon fell into a heated discussion, which was
witnessed by the Ambassador. Al Jamry's point was two-fold:
first, it was ridiculous to call this place a terrorist camp.
One does not need training of any significance to learn how
to make or throw Molotov cocktails, so it just does not make
sense for the government to claim there was such a training
camp. Second, he was annoyed that the Sunni press was
allowed to write inflammatory, sectarian, anti-Shia articles
and editorials, and the government did nothing to stop it.
However, it watched what Al Wasat was writing very closely.
When the Sunni press called this a "terrorist camp" and the
government did nothing to correct the record, he felt he had
to do something. Al Jamry told the Ambassador privately that
he had been called in that day to see General Zayani, who had
requested that Al Jamry scale back the rhetoric in the coming
days. Al Jamry agreed to do so, and in fact Al Wasat's
coveage has cooled considerably.

--------------
Exaggerated Accusations of Terrorism
--------------


10. (C) In a separate conversation, Al Wifaq MP Khalil
Marzouq told the Ambassador that he was critical of those who
equated what the Shia youth were doing with Molotov cocktails
and burning tires with "terrorism." Their activities were
"such small-scale stuff" that had no relation at all to
terrorism. He was also critical of those who said that the
activities of these Shia youth were having a negative impact
on the investment climate. (Note: A common refrain in
certain newspapers.) Small demonstrations in poor Shia
villages were not affecting the investment climate, he
stated. However, exaggerated press reporting of "terrorist
camps" could.


11. (C) In a March 1 conversation, Minister of State for
Foreign Affairs and a former Al Wifaq leader Nizar Al Baharna
told the Ambassador that the hardline Haq Movement is the
force behind recent disturbances. They deploy groups of
youth to one place or another to rile people up before moving
on, he said. But he discounts allegations of a training camp
because "they're not that organized." He said that he spoke
to Interior Minister Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa
about the incidents, and Shaikh Rashid wants to take measures
to build trust between the security forces and Shia
community. Shaikh Rashid proposed that, when police detain a
protester, an Al Wifaq member should be called to be present
during processing. Al Baharna said that he told Al Wifaq
that when it sees something wrong, from the government or
Shia side, it should say so publicly.

--------------
Columnists Weigh In
--------------


12. (SBU) Al Watan columnist Sawsan Al Shaer, who often has
a balanced perspective of events, wrote February 25 that the
most dangerous consequence of the blow-up over the training
camp story is the "evident division of our press" into Sunni
and Shia sides. She complained, "The press was biased and
did not play the role that it is expected to play to properly
reflect the content of a statement as it is." (Note: A
reference to the MOI's February 19 statement.) She
continued, "We demand that editors-in-chief wait for one
minute, reevaluate their work, and start all over again. We
need camps to teach us where an irresponsible word could lead
us!"

MANAMA 00000198 004 OF 004




13. (SBU) Likely in reaction to General Zayani's admonition,
Mansour Al Jamry in a February 26 column praised the release
of Al Sahlawi and Al Habashi, saying it reinforced the
political openness that the country has lived in since 2001.
He stated, "We must recognize the importance of protecting
our rights to freedom of opinion but we also must recognize
that we have a responsibility to protect the security of the
country... We must establish balance between protecting our
country, our youth, and our rights." On February 28, he
wrote that there should be a partnership between security
agencies and society. Peace and stability cannot prevail
without the collaboration of the two sides - the police and
the people, promoting a sense of social partnership.

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


14. (C) The release of Al Sahlawi and Al Habashi has
restored calm to the Shia villages in the northern tier of
Bahrain, for now. However, the manufactured crisis over the
"terrorist training camp" demonstrates the current rawness in
sectarian relations. Additionally, while the King's stepping
in and ordering the release of the two detainees has soothed
Shia nerves, many Sunnis, and not just hardliners, are
grumbling about the King's catch-and-release policy, which he
has employed several times for Shia troublemakers. The
government will continue to navigate a fine line between
keeping order, addressing Shia grievances, and maintaining
its Sunni base.


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