AMBASSADOR'S FAREWELL CALL ON FOREIGN MINISTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000674

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/18/2017
TAGS: PREL BA REGION
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S FAREWELL CALL ON FOREIGN MINISTER
SHAIKH KHALID

REF: A. MANAMA 650 B. MANAMA 662

Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe. Reason: 1.4 (B)(D)

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) Summary. Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid, during the
Ambassador's July 17 farewell call, had high praise for the
bilateral relationship, urging that Bahrain and other GCC
countries move from being "allies" to becoming true
"partners." In that connection, he welcomed the July 31
meeting of the GCC 2, calling that forum extremely important.
He said that new Middle East envoy Tony Blair would visit
Bahrain July 25. He gave additional insights into Bahrain's
dust-up last week with Iran over a statement suggesting
Bahrain was Iran's 14th province. He said that Bahrain
handled it very carefully as it did not want it to affect
Bahrain's internal situation (in other words, exacerbate the
sensitive Sunni-Shia sectarian divide). He related that
Iranian FM Muttaqi almost canceled his visit to resolve the
issue when he learned of an anti-Iranian demonstration
outside the Iranian Embassy. After the issue was resolved,
Shaikh Khalid flew to Saudi Arabia to thank King Abdullah for
Saudi Arabia's expression of support. King Abdullah rebuffed
a request by Shaikh Khalid to increase production at a
jointly-held off-shore oil field.

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BILATERAL RELATIONS: NOT JUST ALLIES, BUT PARTNERS
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2. (C) The Ambassador opened his July 17 farewell call on
Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid by expressing appreciation for
Bahrain's close cooperation with the United States on
regional issues and, more specifically, Shaikh Khalid's
personal support for U.S. policies in the region, especially
on the Israel-Palestinian issue. The Ambassador noted that,
with the return of the fifth Bahrain detainee the evening
before (Saudi/Bahraini dual citizen Juma Al-Dossari, who was
sent to Saudi Arabia),there was just one Bahraini detainee
left at Guantanamo. This issue, which had put some local
pressure on the Foreign Ministry, was thus almost behind us.
At the same time, the successful visit the week before of an
NDI delegation, which led to an agreement for NDI to resume
programming in the fall, had hopefully put behind us an issue
that had been of considerable concern to the United States.
With the FTA successfully in place, and Bahrain playing an
increasingly active role in Navy coalition operations, the
bilateral relationship was currently in good shape.


3. (C) Shaikh Khalid had high praise for the bilateral
relationship. He said that it was time for Bahrain, and the
other countries in the GCC, to move from being "allies" of
the United States to becoming true "partners." Bahrain's
position, he said, is that the U.S. and the GCC should have a
"shared vision, shared policies." In that regard, he
welcomed the news that Secretary Rice will host a meeting of
the GCC 2 in Egypt on July 31. Although he will be on
vacation in France at the time, he will fly to Egypt for the
meeting and looks forward to fruitful discussions. The GCC 2
process is extremely important, he stressed.

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PRESIDENT'S SPEECH WELCOMED
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4. (C) Shaikh Khalid welcomed the President's July 16 speech
on the Middle East, and the indication it gave of serious
engagement by the United States on supporting peace in the
Middle East. He focused specifically on the statement that
the U.S. would convene an international meeting this fall to
discuss Middle East peace, and wondered when and where the
meeting would be held and whom would be invited.

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TONY BLAIR COMING TO BAHRAIN
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5. (C) Shaikh Khalid stated that new Middle East envoy Tony
Blair will visit Bahrain July 25, arriving from Tel Aviv. He
will meet with Crown Prince Shaikh Salman (in the absence of
the King, who is out of the country) and Deputy Prime
Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak. Shaikh Khalid
expressed appreciation that Blair was coming, and said
Bahrain looked forward to hearing what he had to say.

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FLARE-UP WITH IRAN: HANDLED CAREFULLY

MANAMA 00000674 002 OF 002


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6. (C) Shaikh Khalid gave some additional insights on
Bahrain's dust-up last week with Iran over a statement by
Kayhan editor Shariatmadari claiming that Bahrain was the
14th province of Iran (reftels). Bahrain handled it "very
carefully," he stated. "We did not want this issue to affect
our internal situation. It was like putting oil on a fire,
hour by hour. So we stopped it quickly. Thank God this
episode is behind us."


7. (C) When the story broke in Kayhan, Shaikh Khalid stated,
they called in the Iranian CDA who dismissed the article as
simply a media report. Shaikh Khalid asked that the Iranian
Government to make a public statement. The CDA said he would
relay the message to Tehran. When the Iranian government
failed to make statement, the MFA called the CDA back in the
next day and asked what happened. He replied that the
positive statement made the day before by President
Ahmadinejad during the presentation of credentials by
Bahrain's new Ambassador was enough. Unsatisfied, Shaikh
Khalid prepared a note of protest and told the press he would
meet with Bahrain's parliament the next day to discuss
Bahrain's position. At that point, Iranian Foreign Minister
Muttaqi, who had planned to transit Bahrain for one hour on
his way home from Tunis, asked to extend the stopover so that
he could meet the King and the Foreign Minister. Bahrain
decided to accept the visit, postpone delivering the protest
note, and see what Muttaqi had to say.


8. (C) Muttaqi almost didn't come. On the eve of his planned
arrival on July 13, a protest demonstration in front of the
Iranian Embassy led the Iranian CDA to contact Muttaqi and
tell him not to come. Upon hearing this, Shaikh Khalid
called Muttaqi and urged him to proceed with the visit. With
news of the planned visit already in the press, Shaikh Khalid
told him, there would be an even bigger problem for Bahrain
if he suddenly canceled. Muttaqi said that he was concerned
that Bahrain would use the visit to stir up anti-Iranian
sentiments, but after talking to Shaikh Khalid agreed to come.


9. (C) As reported ref b, Muttaqi gave Bahrain the assurances
it wanted during his visit. He met Shaikh Khalid and, in the
absence of the King, Crown Prince Shaikh Salman. The Crown
Prince told Shaikh Khalid before his meeting with Muttaqi
that he would ask point blank if Iran recognized Bahrain as a
sovereign country, and if the answer was not yes he intended
to walk out of the meeting. In the end, Muttaqi gave him the
answer he wanted, although he did make the point that
anti-Iranian comments by Bahraini columnist Sameera Rajab, a
member of the King-appointed Shura Council, were essentially
of the same nature as the comments by Kayhan editor
Shariatmadari. Shaikh Khalid acknowledged to the Ambassador
that Muttaqi did have a point. Muttaqi also pressed for an
early convening of the new joint committee on bilateral
cooperation, but the Bahrainis pushed it back to the autumn.

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RELATIONS WITH SAUDI ARABIA
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10. (C) During this episode, Saudi King Abdullah called King
Hamad, who is in London, to express his support for Bahrain.
Once the issue had been resolved, King Hamad dispatched
Shaikh Khalid to Jeddah to personally thank the Saudi leader
for his expression of support. King Abdullah told Shaikh
Khalid that the Gulf is a red line as far as Iran is
concerned and that "we are there to help you."


11. (C) Shaikh Khalid said that during his meeting with King
Abdullah he raised an issue that continues to rankle the
Bahrainis: Saudi Arabia's unwillingness to raise production
at the jointly-owned Abu Safah offshore oil field. He said
that Aramco has told Bahrain oil company Bapco that the field
has good potential for expansion. In this meeting, Shaikh
Khalid said, King Abdullah shrugged of his request. Shaikh
Khalid urged U.S. help with the Saudis on this issue.


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