US embassy cable - 05MANAMA397

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAMA 000397 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARPI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2015 
TAGS: PREL, BA 
SUBJECT: BAHRAIN:  MESSAGE TO THE ARAB LEAGUE 
 
REF: A. STATE 45505 
     B. MANAMA 341 
     C. MANAMA 319 
 
Classified by DCM Susan L. Ziadeh for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) The Ambassador March 15 delivered Ref A demarche 
concerning U.S. views in advance of the Arab League summit to 
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs/Information Minister 
Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar.  Abdul Ghaffar took note of the 
demarche but had to depart the meeting before he had a chance 
to respond. 
 
2.  (C) The DCM March 16 delivered demarche to MFA Assistant 
Under Secretary for Coordination and Follow Up Shaikh Abdul 
Aziz bin Mubarak Al Khalifa.  Regarding Syria/Lebanon, Shaikh 
Abdul Aziz said that Bahrain has spoken publicly and 
privately to encourage Syria to leave Lebanon (Refs B and C). 
 Syria should "cut its losses."  There is too much 
international pressure and it is in Syria's best interest to 
leave, he stated. 
 
3.  (C) Turning to Israeli-Palestinian affairs, Shaikh Abdul 
Aziz said that the focus of the March 1 London conference was 
on building Palestinian institutions.  Bahrain offered to 
assist by sharing its experience in developing civil society 
and national institutions.  Bahrain proposed to train 
Palestinian bankers, as it had done earlier with Iraqis. 
Bahrain had not made any additional financial commitments in 
London but had offered in-kind assistance to the Palestinians. 
 
4.  (C) Addressing directly the point on diplomatic ties with 
Israel, Shaikh Abdul Aziz said that Crown Prince Salman had 
met with Shimon Peres during the most recent Davos meeting 
and had appeared with him on a CNN program.  The CP had also 
met with Peres at an earlier Davos meeting before the 
outbreak of violence between Israelis and Palestinians in 
2000.  The CP told Peres that for every step Israel took with 
the Palestinians, Bahrain would take two steps with Israel. 
Bahraini officials occasionally meet with Israelis on the 
margins of international meetings, and Shaikh Abdul Aziz 
promised to look into what Bahrain could do in the future. 
He commented that the U.S. should ensure that Arabs who 
establish relations with Israel "are rewarded." 
 
5.  (C) Regarding Iraq, Shaikh Abdul Aziz said that he hopes 
Iraqis come to agreement soon on forming a government. 
Bahrain fully supports the Iraqi Transitional National 
Assembly and future government, and Bahrain will declare its 
support publicly upon formation of a government.  Both Jafari 
and Talabani had visited Bahrain immediately after the Iraq 
war and the GOB had good discussions with them.  He promised 
to speak with Foreign Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al 
Khalifa about all these points before the Arab League summit 
and to request that Shaikh Mohammed encourage other Arab 
leaders to support the U.S. positions. 
 
6.  (C) Shaikh Abdul Aziz said he had heard that Saudi Crown 
Prince Abdulla, Jordan's King Abdulla, and UAE President 
Shaikh Khalifa were not going to the summit.  He did not know 
why they had decided not to go, but wondered if they were 
concerned about security in Algiers.  He confirmed that 
Bahrain's King Hamad was going to the summit. 
 
MONROE