US embassy cable - 04MANAMA336

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MANAMA 000336 
 
SIPDIS 
 
CAIRO FOR ECPO - S. BONDY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/11/2024 
TAGS: PGOV, PINS, KISL, BA 
SUBJECT: ISLAMISTS PULL THE PLUG ON TV SHOW DESPITE 
BUSINESS OUTCRY 
 
REF: 03 MANAMA 2686 
 
Classified By: CDA Robert Ford.  Reasons:  1.4 (B) and (D). 
 
1.  (C)  SUMMARY.  In the latest in a string of recent 
victories, Bahraini Islamists earlier this month compelled 
the Middle East Broadcasting Channel 2 (MBC 2) reality 
television show "Big Brother" to halt its production in 
Bahrain.  The show's production team left Bahrain despite 
public support for the production from Bahrain's usually 
timorous business community.  Businessmen are complaining 
about the lack of GOB support for the production, and the 200 
jobs that came with it; they complain that the GOB's retreat 
on Islamists' social policy demands are damaging Bahrain's 
business climate.  The production's closure and other 
Islamist agitation could hurt Bahrain; one prominent U.S. 
company told us earlier this week that Bahrain's political 
climate appears less stable than Qatar and the UAE and hence 
it is less attractive as a regional base.  We cannot explain 
the GOB's apparent acquiescence to Sunni Islamist demands 
when the King has the political tools to block their 
initiatives.  Some Bahraini businessmen are beginning to 
fight back.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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BIG BROTHER GETS GOB BLESSING 
----------------------------- 
 
2.  (C)  On February 21, Saudi owned MBC 2 launched its 
Middle Eastern version of the reality show "Big Brother." 
Based on the original Dutch show, 12 female and male 
contestants were filmed 24 hours per day living in a house. 
By group vote these 12 participants would decide whom to kick 
out of the house and off the show until only one 'winning 
contestant' was left.  MBC 2 altered the show's format to 
conform to Bahrain's Arab and Islamic culture by segregating 
the male and female contestants and having them only interact 
in the communal areas.  Only after format alterations did the 
Minister of Information Nabeel Al Hamer give the go ahead for 
the project to be based on Bahrain's tourist island of Amwaj, 
according to press reports.  (COMMENT:  Rumors abound that Al 
Hamer was one of Bahrain's leading investors in the project. 
END COMMENT.) 
 
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SUNNI ISLAMISTS CHASE BIG BROTHER FROM BAHRAIN 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
3.  (U)  Even with alterations to the show's format, 
parliamentary conservatives attacked Minister Al Hamer for 
failing to keep his promise to maintain strict Islamic 
values.  Sunni conservative and Al Minbar Islamiyya (Muslim 
Brotherhood) member MP Shaikh Mohammed Khalid proposed that 
an investigative committee look into the motives of the 
Minister.  Along with five others MPs, Salafi leader and 
Second Vice Chairman of the Council of Representatives (COR) 
MP Adel Al Moawda called for questioning the Information 
Minister, the first step towards a vote of no confidence and 
removal of a minister from office. 
 
4.  (C)  According to the press, conservative religious 
leaders outside parliament ramped up the rhetoric, declaring 
the show "rampant moral depravity."  Friday sermons at the 
end of February and into early March warned parents of the 
show's "dangerous implications" and reprimanded Minister Al 
Hamer for failing to keep Bahrain "clean."  Sunni 
conservatives organized a public protest at which about 1000 
protesters attempted to make their way to the filming site. 
Smaller protests occurred in downtown Manama and other 
locations.  MBC 2 announced on March 3 that it was stopping 
production in Bahrain and withdrawing its production team. 
It laid off 200 workers, including 85 Bahrainis, according to 
press reports.  The show,s assistant producer told Poloff 
last week that the rumor on the set was that the Government 
told MBC 2 to halt the production.  MBC 2,s public statement 
made no reference to Government involvement in the decision 
in order to preserve appearances of network freedom, she 
alleged.  (Comment:  We have no confirmation yet from other 
sources of GOB involvement in the decision.  End Comment.) 
 
----------------------------------------- 
THE GOB'S PRE-EMPTIVE CAPITULATION POLICY 
----------------------------------------- 
 
5.  (U)  The successful campaign against the TV show is the 
latest in a string of recent victories Bahraini Islamists 
have gained to enforce more conservative social norms in 
Bahrain.  In December 2002, the Commerce Minister severely 
restricted alcohol sales in response to press from the 
Islamist block in the elected chamber of the Parliament (the 
Islamists are the largest block with 17 of the 40 
representatives).  In June 2003, conservatives were 
successful in passing a bill through the COR to ban the sale 
of alcohol to Muslims.  (The Parliament's upper chamber, the 
Shura Council never acted on the legislation, thus blocking 
its passage into law.)  In the following month, the King 
allowed fully-veiled women to drive, despite the Shura 
Council's overwhelming rejection of a COR sponsored bill 
authorizing the same.  According to the press, the royal 
decision followed a private meeting between the King and 
Salafi leader Al Moawda.  The GOB has also aggressively 
closed hotels and clubs for allegedly violating GOB 
limitations on alcohol sales and entertainment. 
 
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BUSINESS COMMUNITY PROTESTS FIZZLE 
---------------------------------- 
 
6.  (U)  Angered by the cancellation of the show, prominent 
businessman and Big Brother investor Farouq Al-Moayed 
lambasted the six conservative members of Parliament for 
demanding the cancellation of the show.  He remarked to the 
press that the debate about the show will have a negative 
impact on foreign investment.  Along these lines, an American 
oil company executive visiting the Gulf told RSO on March 8 
that American firms operating in the region have started to 
notice the Islamist protests and restrictive social policy 
initiatives.  They compare this agitation with the quiet in 
places like Qatar and the UAE, he commented.  Bahrain does 
not fare well in this comparison, he concluded, and no 
American firms are likely to choose to put a new regional 
base in Bahrain instead of a country judged quote more stable 
end quote. 
 
7.  (C)  Commenting on the negative effect the Islamists have 
inflicted on Bahrain's economy, dynamic young business leader 
Sofyan Al-Moayed asserted to Poloff March 7 that tourism is 
down 40 percent over last year's levels.   Chairman of the 
Bahrain Businesswomen's Society Afnan Al Zayani (Information 
Minister al-Hamer's wife) told PolOff on March 7 that in 2001 
and 2002 hotels were at 106 percent occupancy.  However for 
New Year's 2003 and Eid holidays, hotels were only 30 percent 
occupied.  Another leading businessman described the 2004 Eid 
al-Adha holiday to us as a "business disaster." 
 
8.  (C)  Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry board 
member Jawad Habib Jawad asserted that hotel occupancy is 
tied to alcohol consumption, which is way down.  An American 
Express executive confirmed this impression to P/E Chief on 
March 7.  He said that GCC tourists who used to come to 
Bahrain are now filling Dubai's and Doha's hotels.  Another 
prominent American businessman complained that Bahrain's 
clubs are now serving liquor in teapots, just like in Kuwait. 
 A Microsoft executive quipped that because of the limited 
availability of alcohol, entertainment companies are 
importing more prostitutes into Bahrain. 
 
9.  (C)  Leading businessman Abdul Hammed Kooheji commented 
angrily to PolOff on March 8 that the GOB is allowing 
Islamists to run the country, and they are running it into 
the ground.  He added that the Islamists will attack 
businessmen personally as well as their companies.  Thus, he 
lamented, there is little the business community can do to 
fight the conservatives.  Bahrain Businessmen's Association 
President Khaled al-Moayed told us March 6 that while Bahrain 
is negotiating a FTA to encourage more foreign investment 
from the U.S. and other countries, conservative Islamists are 
threatening Bahrain's reputation as a relatively open, 
moderate society hospitable to a variety of cultures.  When 
PolOff asked members of the Bahrain's Businessmen's 
Association why there are so few businessmen active in 
politics, Khalid Al-Moayed answered that the business 
community is too fearful to cross the Islamists, who in turn 
are too ignorant to make intelligent policy decisions.  So 
far, Al-Moayed said, the business community is too dignified 
to run for parliamentary office to confront the Islamist 
parliamentary bloc through the ballot box.  Separately, 
Khalid's son, Sofyan al-Moayed, told us March 7 that few 
Bahraini businessmen would confront the Islamists for fear 
the Islamists would organize a boycott of their Bahraini 
companies.  The Islamists are large and dangerous, he 
observed. 
 
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COMMENT 
------- 
 
10.  (C)  We do not sense in any way that stability in 
Bahrain is under threat, but we do sense much greater 
Islamist assertiveness - a conclusion underlined to us by 
Central Bank Governor Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed last week as 
well.  Emboldened by the GOB's decision not to confront their 
social initiatives, Bahrain's Islamists have begun 
articulating an even more ambitious agenda, calling for the 
segregation of cinemas, the censorship of films, and the 
banning of alcohol sales.  They are on record in support of 
segregating men and women at the University of Bahrain.  We 
are uncertain why the King continues to retreat in the face 
of Sunni Islamist pressure.  He could easily rely on the more 
liberal-minded Shura Council and the cabinet to block Sunni 
Islamist legislative initiatives.  Regardless, the outcry 
from the business community against the pressure on MBC 2's 
TV show is the first time anyone in Bahrain's society has 
criticized the impact of Islamist "reforms" directly.  Shura 
Council member and Amwaj Properties General Manager Jameel 
al-Matrouk told P/E Chief on March 9 that he is planning a 
major anti-Islamist media blitz for next week.  Big Brother 
has left Bahrain, but its departure may have awakened 
Bahrain's business community to the challenge posed by the 
Sunni Islamist political agenda.  END COMMENT. 
FORD