SRAP HOLBROOKE'S JUNE 6 MEETING WITH BAHRAIN'S

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000356 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/14/2019 TAGS: PREL KISL MARR PTER AF PK BA SUBJECT: SRAP HOLBROOKE'S JUNE 6 MEETING WITH BAHRAIN'S FOREIGN MINISTER REF: SECRETARY 13 Classified By: CDA Christopher Henzel for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: SRAP Holbrooke obtained from Bahrain's foreign minister a pledge to contribute t Pakistan IDP relief and reconstruction efforts;Bahrain's cabinet would announce the amount soon Holbrooke expressed appreciation for King Hama's offer to Secretary Clinton of a company of Bahaini special security forces for Afghanistan servie, and said an official U.S. response to the offr would come soon. End summary. ¶2. (C) SRAP Hlbrooke met June 6 with Foreign Minister Shaikh halid at the MFA in Manama. Ambassador Holbrooke sid there are now more than 2.5 million IDPs in Pkistan nd that instability there threatens the nternational community. He added that the U.S. as pledged approximately USD 350 million to helpthe GOP deal with IDPs and said President Obama was concerned by the so-far limited response of the CC states. Sheikh Khalid responded that Bahrain ad only just gotten a request for help from the OP on June 5 (after the USG initiated its own reuest for Pakistani IDPs). Now that Pakistan has ommunicated its needs - specifically, the purchae of food for IDPs from local markets - Kig Hamad had ordered the GOB to contribute to the relief effort. The Cabinet will agree on a sum and announce the contribution "soon." ¶3. (C) Following a discussion of the Taliban's sources of support, Shaikh Khalid briefed Ambassador Holbrooke on Bahrain's plans, in consultation with the U.S. Treasury department, to host an international conference to create a framework that regulates donations to Islamic charities by private citizens in Gulf states. Sheikh Khalid assessed that both the Saudis and Emiratis understand that it is in their interest to track and squeeze flows of funding to the Taliban. ¶4. (C) SRAP Holbrooke described increased U.S. focus on countering Taliban propaganda and full-scale investment in agricultural initiatives that would create jobs in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The FM suggested using media outlets to dissuade Gulf citizens from making contributions to the insurgency. Specifically, he suggested that regional satellite channels within the Gulf produce documentary programming exposing the Taliban's connections to the drug trade and the terror inflicted on everyday Muslims by the Taliban and Al Qaeda. "They are no different than Pablo Escobar. It is important to expose the Taliban as the real infidels," he said. ¶5. (C) Sheikh Khalid noted King Hamad's offer to Secretary Clinton to deploy a company of Ministry of Interior Special Security Forces police in support of coalition operations in Afghanistan (reftel). SRAP Holbrooke expressed deep appreciation for Bahrain's offer and committed to getting an official USG response soon. ¶6. (U) Participants: United States: Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP) Charg d'Affaires Christopher Henzel Major General Burton Field, SRAP Military Adviser Rosemarie Pauli, SRAP Chief of Staff Anish Goel, NSC Director for South Asia Kim McClure, SRAP Special Assistant Steven Butler, Embassy Manama (notetaker) Bahrain: Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Foreign Minister Ambassador Saeed Faihani, Adviser to the Foreign Minister Ambassador Dhafer Al Umran, MFA Bilateral Relations Director Ambassador Wahid Sayyar Abdullah Sha'alan, Director of the Office of the Foreign Minister Abdullah Al Khalifa, MFA Americas Desk (notetaker) ¶7. (U) SRAP Holbrooke has cleared this message. ********************************************* ******** Visit Embassy Manama's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/manama/ MANAMA 00000356 002 OF 002 ********************************************* ******** HENZEL