US embassy cable - 04MANAMA1862

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 001862 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/13/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PTER, BA, IZ 
SUBJECT: ABDEL AZIZ AL-HAKIM DISCUSSES IRAQI FUTURE WITH 
BAHRAIN LEADERSHIP 
 
Classified By: William T. Monroe  Reason: 1.4 (B)(D) 
 
 1. (C) Summary. SCIRI Chairman Al-Hakim visited Bahrain this 
week, bringing a positive message of reassurance that Iraqi 
Shia wished to work with Sunnis to forge a new Iraq. 
Hegemony of one faction, he insisted, was not a model for 
Iraq.  He said he had talked with many Sunni religious 
leaders in Ramadi and elsewhere who complained of 
intimidation by extremists.  He accused the media of 
distortion in suggesting that civil war was developing in 
Iraq, saying that Sunnis and Shia were much too linked for 
the country to split apart.  He said the terrorists who 
attacked the consulate in Jeddah had been trained in Iraq and 
slipped back into Saudi Arabia after Ramadan.  King Hamid 
reiterated to Al-Hakim Bahrain's support for the political 
process. Bahrain's Minister of Islamic Affairs complained 
over lunch with Al-Hakim about certain recent actions by Shia 
Bahrain.   End summary. 
 
2. (C) SCIRI Chairman Abdel Aziz Al-Hakim visited Bahrain 
December 11-12 as part of a tour of the region, meeting the 
King, Prime Minister, and a wide range of local Shia leaders 
and scholars.  Al-Hakim told the press that the purpose of 
his visit was to reassure neighboring countries of the 
positive political role that the Shia would play in the 
future of Iraq, a message that was reflected in both his 
public and private comments.  In addition to Bahrain, his 
itinerary also includes the UAE, Kuwait, Syria, Turkey, and 
Saudi Arabia (twice: first to do Umrah last week, and 
returning this week to meet Crown Prince Abdullah), according 
to Iraq's Ambassador to Bahrain Ghassan Hussein. 
 
3. (C) Ambassador Hussein told the Ambassador that the 
meeting with the King lasted a full 80 minutes, during which 
the King reiterated Bahrain's full support for the political 
process in Iraq and its hope for the full participation of 
all parties in the upcoming elections, including Sunnis. 
Al-Hakim, for his part, told the King that Iraq cannot 
develop into a hegemony of one faction over others.  There 
should be a consensus of all factions.  The Shia as a 
majority, he said, cannot impose its will on others.  Hakim 
praised the model of the Governing Council which he felt, 
although criticized by many, was in fact a reflection of a 
kind of consensus among many factions.  Even the Christian 
member did not feel that he was just one against 24, but 
rather one of 24.  The decision to head the Governing Council 
from a rotating panel of nine reflected this desire for 
consensus.  It was, he said, a model for a new Iraq.  "We 
don't want hegemony of one faction," he repeated. 
 
4. (C) Turning to the elections, Al-Hakim cited a recent 
independent poll in Iraq which indicated that 60 percent of 
the people in Ramadi are in favor of holding elections. He 
said that he had met many prominent Sunnis religious scholars 
from that area who complained of intimidation by extremists 
who wanted to impose their views on them.  He used similar 
language in describing Falluja, saying the people there had 
been taken hostage by the extremists who wanted to impose 
their views.  He noted that after the liberation of Falluja, 
there had been no demonstrations or protests in Iraq, not 
even in Ramadi.  The King joked that even in Bahrain there 
had been two protest marches against the action in Falluja. 
 
5. (C) Al-Hakim dwelled at some length in his meetings on the 
distortion of developments in Iraq by the media, which 
describes the situation as a case of civil war.  It is true 
that Zarqawi is calling for a civil war and wants to wage 
civil war, Al-Hakim stated, but he has failed in this effort. 
 In fact, Iraq is much more complex than a simple Sunni-Shia 
division that risks succumbing to civil war. It has major 
tribes (Janahiya, Jabbour, Shamar) that are half Sunni, half 
Shia.  Shia and Sunnis have many links, including through 
intermarriage.  He said that he could not imagine that Iraq 
could be split apart. 
 
6. (C) According to Ambassador Hussein, Bahrain's recent 
offer at Sharm Al-Shaykh to host a meeting in Bahrain of 
moderate political parties was raised in passing during the 
meeting with the King.  Al-Hakim thanked the King for his 
offer, but did not explore it more deeply. 
 
7. (C) Al-Hakim discussed with the King, and also with the 
media, the recent attack on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah. 
Al-Hakim told the King that terrorists in the attack had been 
trained in Falluja over the previous six months, and had 
returned to Saudi Arabia just after Ramadan to launch their 
attack.  He cited this to the press as an example why it was 
important for Iraq's neighbors to work together for the 
stability of Iraq.  He denied to the press that Iran or Syria 
were interfering in the election process. 
 
8. (C) Ambassador Hussein said that Deputy Prime Minister and 
Minister for Islamic Affairs Shaykh Abdullah Al-Khalifa 
invited Al-Hakim for a luncheon on December 12 that was 
attended by major Shia leaders and ulema in Bahrain, 
including the leaders of the four opposition Shia groups that 
boycotted the last election and have remained outside the 
political process.  During the lunch, Shaykh Abdullah had 
critical words for the Shia in Bahrain.  He complained that 
Shia leaders had recently set up a Religious Scholars Council 
that in effect rivaled the existing official Supreme Council 
for Islamic Affairs, which falls under Shaykh Abdullah's 
Ministry of Islamic Affairs.  And he complained that Shia 
picked December 17 to celebrate Martyrs Day, even though that 
comes at the same time that the country celebrates is 
National Day/King's Coronation Day.  Al-Hakim told Shaykh 
Abdullah he was not aware of these concerns. 
 
9. (U) Baghdad Minimize considered. 
MONROE