US embassy cable - 05MANAMA197

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000197 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR ECA/PE/C/NEA and NEA/ARPI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, KJUS, KDEM, OEXC, PREL, BA 
SUBJECT: BAHRAINI PARTICIPANTS CRITIQUE THE SMU RULE OF LAW 
FORUM 
 
1.   (U) On September 28, 2004 an 18-person Bahraini 
delegation consisting of the ministers, parliamentarians, 
business community, and judges embarked on a ten-day "Rule 
of Law" forum in Washington, New York and Dallas.  The 
Ambassador accompanied the delegation organized by John 
Attanasio, Dean of Southern Methodist University's Dedham 
Law School.  This USG-funded program was the brainchild of 
Senator Hutchinson (R-TX); Bahrain was the second country to 
respond positively to the initiative. 
 
2.   (U) In the weeks following the delegation's return, 
PolOff and PolFSN met individually with the participants to 
discuss the trip and as a basis for future cooperation. 
Dean Attanasio re-visited Bahrain on December 18-20, 2004 
and dined at the Ambassador's invitation with the 
delegation.  An overview of trip planning and their comments 
follows: 
 
-------------------- 
Delegation Selection 
-------------------- 
 
3.   (U) Dean Attanasio visited Bahrain on four separate 
occasions to brief over 150 Bahraini leaders about the 
forum.  Many Bahrainis expressed enthusiasm about 
participating and went so far as to lobby EmbOffs for a 
place in the delegation.  In May 2004, prior to leaving 
post, Ambassador, DCM and P/E cleared the list of delegates 
PolOff proposed.  A complete switch-out of the Front Office 
prevented PolOff from sending formal invitations in advance 
of the incoming Ambassador's arrival.  Invitations were sent 
two weeks prior to departure date.  Anticipating a 10-day 
turnaround to process J-1 visas, PolOff immediately 
scheduled some delegates to come in early for fingerscanning 
and name checking. 
 
4.   (U) Although the Minister of Justice Al Arrayedh had 
approved PolOff's proposed delegation in May 2004, just 
prior to the mission he took a second look and decided to 
recast the delegation in order, he said, to put together a 
group that would work well as a team.  This included 
dropping the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Majeed 
Moshin Al Alawi off the delegation (presumably to avoid 
confusion as to who was heading the delegation.)  This late 
change required PolOff and PolFSN to disinvite several 
delegates, who had already been fingerscanned and cleared 
namecheck.  They also had the unfortunate task of informing 
expectant parliamentarians that formal invitations would not 
be forthcoming. As a result, four days prior to departure, 
Democratic Bloc leader Yousif Zainal went to the Minister of 
Justice's office and invited himself onto the delegation. 
Democratic Bloc leader Abdulnabi Salman attempted to join 
upon its arrival in the US.  Several of the minister's 
choices were unable to participate at such late notice and 
were replaced by less relevant participants.  This might 
have been avoided had we not had a lengthy gap between 
Ambassadors, who could have worked the issue directly with 
the Minister. 
 
--------- 
Logistics 
--------- 
 
5.   (U) The delegation required high maintenance during the 
logistics phase.  Many members made frequent changes to 
their individual travel schedules.  Director of the Minister 
of Justice's Office Nabeel Al Romaihi told PolOff that 
travel arrangements for incoming and outgoing flights should 
have been made directly with a travel agency.  One 
participant made 17 changes to her flight arrangements. 
Both EmbOffs and Justice personnel were reeling. 
 
6.   (U) World Travel Services (WTS) Supervisor Fatima Karam 
told PolOff that access to SMU's travel credit card made 
payment for the economy portion of the airline tickets 
convenient.  She also expressed relief that PolOff prepared 
WTS invoices for the first class portion of the tickets and 
ensured payment by the Ministry of Justice.  SMU Travel 
Coordinator Rebekah Bell expressed her dismay of the high 
cost of the economy portion of the tickets.  PolOff insisted 
that WTS book full fare unrestricted tickets in anticipation 
of delegates making numerous changes to their own 
itineraries. 
 
----------------- 
In-country Travel 
----------------- 
 
7.   (U) Shura Council members Alice Samaan and Jameel Al 
Matrook told PolOff that the hotels were comfortable and the 
food was excellent.  Most everyone said the one-day trip to 
New York was exhausting and given the content (just one 
meeting) could have been skipped. 
 
-------------------- 
DHS - Friend or Foe? 
-------------------- 
 
8.   (U) Kudos to Katherine Van de Vate at ECA for her 
amazing turnaround of J-1 visas.  Her recommendation to 
complete A-referrals on the delegates to ease entry into the 
US worked smoothly.  She made last minute arrangements for 
DOS representatives to meet six incoming planes.  The 
delegates were pleased with their welcome. 
 
9.   (U) In-country travel was more problematic.  Because of 
the bloc airline reservations, Reagan National Airport had 
great difficulty clearing delegation members, causing 
lengthy delays at check-in.  ECA provided tremendous help in 
both New York and Dallas to ensure delays at those airports 
would not be repeated.  Final departure from Dulles was 
smooth except for one delegate who was pulled into 
secondary, objected to the treatment, and vowed never to 
travel to the US again. 
 
--------------- 
Program Content 
--------------- 
 
10.  (U) The delegation was generally appreciative of the 
program, especially the meeting with Deputy Secretary 
Armitage and the morning at the Supreme Court (highlighted 
by attendance at oral arguments and a meeting with Justices 
O'Connor and Breyer), as well as a series of lectures and 
meetings at the SMU School of Law.  However, there was some 
frustration that the program seemed to be put together at 
the last minute in an unorganized manner.  Some delegation 
members wished they had known in advance whom they were 
meeting.  The visit to New York had only one meeting - with 
the N.Y. Federal Reserve.  Some delegates had been told they 
would also meet with Citibank, and were disappointed that 
they did not have more meetings (BCIU, for example, could 
easily have organized something).  With only one meeting, 
many felt that the New York stop should have been skipped. 
A breakfast meeting in Dallas seemed thrown together at the 
last minute; most of the local attendees had little overseas 
experience, and the conversation was not directed (Dr. 
Attanasio went to teach a class, and did not leave a 
moderator). 
 
11.  (U) The program had the feel of being put together on 
the fly by a busy Law School Dean who had great contacts but 
not sufficient time or staff to focus on program details. 
In the end, a program came together, but it would have been 
greatly enhanced if it had been arranged by a professional 
programmer. 
 
-------- 
Benefits 
-------- 
 
12.  (U)  While the program was not perfect, participants in 
the end were pleased with the visit.  It was unfortunate 
that Justice Al Arrayedh changed some of the participants at 
the last minute, but the delegation gelled in a very 
positive way (as he had intended).  It was an excellent mix 
of legal experts, parliamentarians, and businessmen, many of 
whom do not operate in the same circles in Bahrain and 
valued the opportunity to travel together and exchange 
ideas.  The delegates received a general introduction about 
rule of law issues, and how they relate to each of their 
sectors, and they emerged with a greater understanding of 
the rule of law.  The oral arguments at the Supreme Court, 
which concerned commercial disputes brought by small 
enterprises to the highest court of the land, made a 
particular impression.