UPDATE ON KING HAMAD'S HEALTH

S E C R E T MANAMA 000897 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/24/2017 TAGS: PGOV PINR JO BA SUBJECT: UPDATE ON KING HAMAD'S HEALTH REF: A) MANAMA 873 B) MANAMA 882 Classified By: AMBASSASDOR ADAM ERELI FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (S) Summary: King Hamad may have left Bahrain for further medical treatment abroad. The Jordanian Ambassador reiterates other sources' reports that the King has appeared well, but tired in recent days. End summary. ¶2. (S) Jordan's Ambassador to Bahrain, Hussein Majali, told the Ambassador in a courtesy call on Thursday, September 20, that Jordan,s King Abdullah had been scheduled to visit Bahrain on September 23, but that on Sunday, September 16, Majali had received a call from King Hamad asking him to inform the Jordanian monarch that the visit would need to be postponed. ¶3. (S) Majali said the reason for the postponement was that King Hamad would be traveling abroad. It was his understanding that the purpose of the travel was to undergo follow-on check-ups to this summer's medical procedure (Ref A). Majali, who sees King Hamad regularly, reported that while the King was not in top form, he is "ok" and his health is not nearly as dire as some of the more sensational rumors suggest. In terms similar to those used by National Security Advisor Ahmed Khalifa (Ref B),Majali told us the King had had a small tumor removed from his neck this summer and that a biopsy had revealed it to be benign. King Hamad has made no public appearances since September 12, although we have not had confirmation of his absence from official sources. ¶4. (S) Bio Note: Hussain Majali has been Jordan's Ambassador to Bahrain since 2004. He is from the prominent East Bank Majali family, and his father was also Ambassador to Bahrain for five years in the 1990s. His relationship with King Hamad is particularly close and dates from Majali's days as a senior security official in the court of King Hussein, at which time he came to know the Bahraini monarch as Crown Prince, before he assumed the throne. ********************************************* ******** Visit Embassy Manama's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/manama/ ********************************************* ******** ERELI