FM ON IRAQ STATUS OF FORCES AND HIS VISIT TO

S E C R E T MANAMA 000727 SIPDIS BAGHDAD FOR POL AND AMBASSADOR ERELI E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/22/2038 TAGS: MARR PREL IZ BA SUBJECT: FM ON IRAQ STATUS OF FORCES AND HIS VISIT TO BAGHDAD ZFR --- ZFR --- ZFR --- ZFR --- ZFR --- ZFR --- ZFR PLEASE CANCEL THIS TELEGRAM. A NEW VERSION WILL BE RESENT UNDER A NEW MRN. PLEASE DESTROY ALL COPIES OF THIS MESSAGE. REGARDS. ZFR --- ZFR --- ZFR --- ZFR --- ZFR --- ZFR --- ZFR REF: STATE 111308 Classified By: CDA CHRISTOPHER HENZEL FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (S) Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmad Al Khalifah was receptive to reftel demarche, and told CDA and poloff October 22 that Bahrain would "lean on" its contacts in PM Maliki's government, and also Speaker of Parliament Mashadani, in support of the Strategic Framework/Status of Forces Agreements. Shaikh Khalid agreed that only Iran benefits if there is a "train wreck." Official Visits -------------- ¶2. (C) Shaikh Khalid described his October 18 visit to Baghdad as a success, and thanked the USG for facilitating his own travel and the standing-up of the new Bahraini Embassy. He met with President Talibani and PM Maliki, and personally invited them, on behalf of Bahrain's King and PM, to pay official visits to Bahrain. He was optimistic that Talibani would visit soon, while he suspected Maliki would be too busy with higher priorities for some time. He told FM Zebari that Bahrain wanted Minister of Commerce Hassan Fakhro to visit Iraq. GCC Membership -------------- ¶3. (C) Shaikh Khalid said that he had deflected Maliki's requests for Bahrain's support of Iraqi membership in the GCC. Shaikh Khalid would prefer that Kuwait and Iraq settled their differences first, and planned to stay out of this debate. ********************************************* ******** Visit Embassy Manama's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/manama/ ********************************************* ******** HENZEL