US embassy cable - 04MANAMA432

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000432 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/29/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, ASEC, BA, PINSF 
SUBJECT: KING ON MARCH 27 ANNOUNCES GOVERNMENT TO TAKE 
HARDER LINE ON LAW-BREAKERS 
 
REF: A) MANAMA 414 B) MANAMA 409 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Ronald E. Neumann.  Reasons 1.4(B)(D). 
 
1.  (S)  Summary:  Worried about potential protests on the 
eve of the April 4 Formula One race event, the King Hamed 
announced on March 27 that the Government would not tolerate 
lawbreaking or acts of violence.  Many observers and leading 
businessmen, recalling a recent bank robbery and attacks on a 
restaurant and private homes offering illegal liquor, 
welcomed the King's promise of a tougher line.  They want the 
King to reestablish what they perceive to be tattered police 
authority and deterrent capability.  Privately with us, the 
King stressed that the GoB would prevent any violent 
demonstrations at the Embassy or elsewhere in Bahrain.  The 
Crown Prince told us the issue is violence, not verbal 
expression of opposition to the Government.  The Crown Prince 
pledged the government would adhere to the rule of law.  If 
the hardline Shia opposition generates any protests which 
devolve into violence, the government may well respond by 
banning the main Shia opposition party in a move it thinks 
would secure Bahrain's image as a safe place to live and 
work.  We have cautioned that arresting and prosecuting 
lawbreakers is laudable and necessary, but it will be harder 
for foreign observers to understand banning a political 
group.  End Summary. 
 
2. (U)  Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa in a national address 
aired on Bahraini TV on March 27 said the Government would 
crack down on criminals and individuals responsible for acts 
of violence.  The King said violent demonstrations would not 
be tolerated.  Pro-government newspapers rolled out 
editorials on March 28 praising the King's remarks and urging 
citizens not to put the Bahrain's political reform process at 
risk by resorting to crime or violence. 
 
3.  (S)  Bahrain's Crown Prince, Shaikh Salman bin Hamad, 
told the Ambassador on March 28 that the Bahraini government 
would begin taking a tougher line against criminals and 
political extremists. Salman said that the government's 
repeal of the state security law, and its wide-sweeping 
authorities, had caused problems for the police who had used 
it as a crutch to fight crime.  Without the security law, the 
police had been unable to use regular laws to hold and 
prosecute lawbreakers. He claimed that to his knowledge no 
orders had ever been issued to the security services not to 
arrest people. The King, Salman said, is now urging security 
services to toughen up their enforcement of regular Bahraini 
laws.  Salman underlined that the government and its security 
services would operate within the confines of existing 
Bahraini law.  The government is committed to the rule of 
law, he concluded. 
 
4. (S)  Later on March 28 the King confirmed to the 
Ambassador that his March 27 speech to the nation represented 
a change in tone and tactic with respect to extremists in 
Bahrain.  The King said he was unhappy that hard-line Shia 
opposition members had organized demonstrations at the 
American Embassy (ref a).  He said he had passed a message 
back to the hard-line Shia Al-Wifaq opposition group's 
leader, Shaikh Ali Salman, that if the extremists push too 
hard on demonstrations at the American Embassy the King would 
ask the Americans to take over security around the Embassy 
with the implied threat that the Americans would be much 
tougher than the Bahraini security.  (Note:  the King does 
not/not intend to ask us to defend ourselves.  He is simply 
making clear that further threats will not be tolerated.  The 
Minister who actually passed the messaged described them to 
us in identical terms.)  The King said that they would begin 
tougher enforcement of the law against extremists, but would 
not arrest people merely for expressing disagreement of 
opinion with the government.  The King added that he had 
visited the Bahraini Defense Forces headquarters on March 27. 
There he had given the senior army commanders a simple 
message:  Those who are unable or are unwilling to enforce 
the law need to tell us so we can make alternate 
administrative arrangements for them. 
 
5.  (S)  The King discounted the likelihood of a strong 
confrontation with the hard-line opposition in Bahrain.  He 
noted that already some of the more moderate elements of 
Al-Wifaq are leaving the group.  (He pointed to the departure 
from the Al-Wifaq ward of businessman Nizar Al-Baharna and 
Shaikh Abdul Al-Nabi Al-Dirazi.)  The King concluded that the 
break-up of Al-Wifaq would be a good thing as it would 
isolate extremists in Bahrain. 
 
6.  (C)  Two of Bahrain's leading businessmen told the DCM on 
March 28 that the harder line taken by the King and the 
government is very welcome. They noted that a recent bank 
robbery as well as a recent attack on a Manama restaurant 
(ref b) indicated that extremists felt they could act with 
impunity.  It was urgent, they thought, for the government to 
reinforce its authority and deter law breakers.  However, 
another top GOB official and a leading businessman echoed 
these sentiments, but added that this time the King will have 
to follow through or lose all credibility. 
 
7.  (C)  A reliable Embassy contact present at a 
well-attended al-Wifaq meeting on March 28 told Poloff that 
al-Wifaq leader Ali Salman urged al-Wifaq followers to avoid 
violence or provocation.  Salman also, however, expressed 
understanding of Shia frustrations in Bahrain and defended 
the people's right to express themselves.  (Our source 
wondered if that wasn't an implicit green light to more 
provocation.)  Ali Salman also told the Wifaq meeting that 
the Government has warned al-Wifaq that any al-Wifaq 
demonstration, protest or even petition drive could trigger 
the GoB to ban al-Wifaq entirely. 
 
8.  (C)  Comment:  A close advisor to the King told 
Ambassador March 27 that some in the Government are beginning 
to ponder whether they should ban hardline opposition groups 
like al-Wifaq.  The Ambassador cautioned that arresting and 
prosecuting lawbreakers is laudable and necessary, but 
shutting down political groups would be harder for foreign 
observers to understand.  If al-Wifaq can control its 
followers, we do not anticipate the GoB will move to shut it 
down or arrest its leaders.  However, the GoB is now keenly 
sensitive to the risk that political protests or violence 
during next week's Formula One racing event would harm 
Bahrain's image as a safe place to invest, work and live. 
The government is now much more sharply focused on al-Wifaq 
elements as a potential instigator of protests and/or 
violence.  Formula One and Bahrain's image are probably more 
important to the Government at this moment than plaudits 
about its political reform process.  End Comment. 
NEUMANN