US embassy cable - 05MANAMA484

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MANAMA 000484 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DS/IP/NEA, DS/ITA, DS/ATA, S/CT AND NEA/ARPI 
RIYADH FOR LEGATT 
FBI FOR JOHN PISTOLE, DEPUTY DIRECTOR; WILLIE HULON, DEPUTY 
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR; TOM HARRINGTON, DEPUTY ASSISTANT 
DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONAL SUPPORT; GARY BALD, EXECUTIVE 
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR CT; FRANK BATTLE OPERATIONS RESPONSE 
SECTION 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/29/2015 
TAGS: ASEC, BA, PTER 
SUBJECT: BAHRAIN MOVES FORWARD WITH JOINT COUNTER TERRORISM 
CENTER 
 
REF: MANAMA 435 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR WILLIAM T. MONROE FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) 
 
1. (C) Summary. An FBI-led team's March 19-22 visit to 
Bahrain successfully kick-started Bahrain's effort to 
establish a Joint Counter Terrorism Center (JCTC) within the 
next two-four months.  Most notably, Minister of Interior 
(MOI) Shaikh Rashid pulled in senior leaders from CT-related 
agencies, including the Bahrain National Security Agency 
(BNSA) and the Bahrain Defense Forces (BDF), for a review of 
the FBI presentation as well as MOI's plan, apparently 
gaining their endorsement of the JCTC.  Former Ambassador to 
the U.S. Shaikh Khalifa, now Deputy Director at BNSA, was 
deeply involved in all of the discussions and appeared to 
play a helpful role.  Embassy greatly appreciates the support 
given to this effort by the FBI National Joint Terrorism Task 
Force (NJTTF); as well as the Legatt office in Riyadh. End 
summary. 
 
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How It All Started 
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2. (C) Chief of Public Security Major General Latif Al Zayani 
requested embassy support from RSO (by letter) to establish a 
CT Center in Manama in August 2004.  RSO contacted DS/ATA and 
S/CT to seek guidance and support for the venture.  Both 
groups endorsed the concept but could not provide material 
support.  Legatt Riyadh Fred Brink was contacted and provided 
a copy of the letter from MG Zayani.  In further discussions, 
RSO and Legatt determined the proposed Bahrain CT Center 
closely resembled an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) 
and met many of the requirements for organization, training, 
equipment and personnel.  Legatt Riyadh contacted the NJTTF 
to request a training visit to Manama to provide guidance and 
direction to the Ministry of Interior in their pursuit of a 
CT Center. 
 
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The Initial Meetings 
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3. (C) The FBI team arrived in Manama on March 17 and 
conducted briefings on March 19 and 20 to senior MOI and NSA 
personnel, including Chief of Public Security MG Zayani and 
NSA Undersecretary Shaikh Khalifa Al Khalifa (recently former 
Ambassador to the U.S.).  The lengthy discussions were 
productive and produced a vibrant dialog between the US and 
Bahraini participants.  Major General Zayani and Shaikh Al 
Khalifa were impressed with the specific information provided 
on personnel selection, equipment needs and the absolute 
requirement by CT Center staff for dedication to the mission. 
 Each major participating agency; MOI, NSA, Bahrain Defense 
Forces and National Guard; is required to support the goals 
and objectives of the CT Center to ensure national security 
for Bahrain. 
 
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The Big Meeting 
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4. (C) Minister of Interior Shaikh Rashid Al Khalifa called 
together the Director of the National Security Agency Shaikh 
Abdul Aziz Al Khalifa and Chief of Staff Bahrain Defense 
Forces Shaikh Daij Al Khalifa on March 21 for a briefing by 
the FBI team and a review of the MOI plan for establishment 
of a JCTC.  Major General Zayani opened the meeting by 
discussing the need for a coordinated CT Center utilizing the 
assets of MOI, NSA, BDF, the National Guard, etc. into a 
cohesive unit to deter, investigate and prosecute terrorist 
crimes.  FBI NJTTF Supervisor Rodger Morrison then provided 
an overview of how the 100 JTTF offices in the US are 
organized, staffed, equipped and led.  An MOI presenter 
narrated the concept of operations for the CT Center.  The 
MOI vision is that each GCC country would create its own 
JCTC, and those country JCTC's would eventually be linked to 
a Manama-based regional center with representation from each 
GCC country.  The explosive attack in Qatar March 19 was a 
sobering reminder to the attendees of the need to quickly and 
accurately share terrorism information in Bahrain and 
throughout the GCC.  Agent Morrison concluded the FBI 
presentation with "best practices" used by the NJTTF and the 
100 JTTF offices in the US. 
 
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Walk First 
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5. (C) The initial plan is to open the JCTC at MOI 
headquarters with a small staff from NSA, MOI, BDF, the 
National Guard and Customs.  The Director of the JCTC is 
expected to be an NSA officer at the rank of Colonel with the 
Deputy Director from MOI at Lieutenant Colonel rank.  The 
Director will report to the Chief of Public Security Major 
General Zayani.  The JCTC will consist of an Intelligence 
Analysis Cell, Contingency Plans and Operations Cell, and 
Protective Security Cell supported by officers from Criminal 
Investigations Division, Coast Guard, Special Forces, 
Customs, Immigration, BDF, National Guard, Attorney General, 
Civil Aviation and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  The 
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) used by the FBI JTTF was 
provided and will be employed as the template for ensuring 
the cooperation of participating ministries.  MOI already 
modified the document and had it cleared by their legal 
department.  The MOI plans to have the JCTC operational on a 
small scale in 2-4 months.  The equipment list provided by 
the FBI team will serve as a baseline for acquiring the 
necessities to begin operations. 
 
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Principle Responsibilities 
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6. (C) The MOI JCTC presentation offered the following 
mission statement: The mission of the JCTC is to prevent a 
terrorist attack in the Kingdom of Bahrain.  The principle 
responsibilities of the JCTC are to liase with national, 
regional and international agencies to exchange information 
and operational techniques; call regular meetings with 
national ministries and agencies to share relevant 
information and update contingency plans; ensure training and 
exercises take place; ensure the Kingdom has the proper 
equipment for every level of threat; and establish and 
organization within the MOI to be the focal point for the 
prevention of a terrorist attack in Bahrain. 
 
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Where We Go From Here 
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7. (C) The Minister of Interior will hold a meeting on March 
30 with the Director NSA, Chief of Staff BDF, and Chief of 
the National Guard to elicit their further support to create 
the JCTC.  The next step is to identify the JCTC director, 
deputy director and skeleton staff.  The documents provided 
by the FBI team specifically identify the next sequential 
steps to be taken by the MOI to establish the JCTC. 
Milestones have been identified for the MOI to meet in order 
for progress to be measured.  Based on the MOI's progress, 
RSO will advise the FBI team on MOI progress and the need to 
revisit Bahrain and provide additional assistance.  Bahrain 
will likely open the first international CT Center organized 
by DS and the FBI, fitting the JTTF mold.  The Bahraini 
vision, as presented to the GCC countries at the Riyadh, 
Saudi Arabia security conference in February 2005, is to 
create a JCTC in each country and later establish a regional 
JCTC in Manama. 
 
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Thanks To All 
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8. (C) Post is extremely grateful to the LEGAT Fred Brink and 
A/LEGAT Martin Reardon in Riyadh and the FBI NJTTF personnel 
Rodger Morrison, Richard Teahan, Michael Reilly, Harlan Bell 
and Terry Coward who traveled to Manama.  Their efforts 
provided the spark from which the JCTC shall begin.  DS and 
FBI leaders endorsed the program, recognizing the long-term 
benefits of information sharing and coordinated effort in the 
GWOT. 
MONROE