US embassy cable - 05MANAMA505

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAMA 000505 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/06/2015 
TAGS: PTER, PREL, KAWC, BA 
SUBJECT: BAHRAIN: NOTICE OF GUANTANAMO ADMINISTRATIVE 
REVIEW BOARD PROCEEDINGS 
 
REF: SECSTATE 57663 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe 
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) The Ambassador informally raised the issue of the 
upcoming Guantanamo Administrative Review Board (ARB) 
proceedings with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs 
Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar on the sidelines of an event last 
week.  PolOff delivered reftel demarche to Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs Assistant Undersecretary for Coordination and 
Follow Up Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Mubarak Al Khalifa April 6. 
Sheikh Abdul Aziz said that an MFA official would contact 
Abdullah Al Noaimi's family members to notify them of the 
pending ARB proceedings and inform them that the ARB will 
consider any written information they may wish to submit 
through the GOB. 
 
2.  (C) Sheikh Abdul Aziz said the GOB would pass to EmbOffs 
any information received from the family and would also 
respond in writing to various items in the reftel talking 
points.  He emphasized that the GOB was more than willing to 
accept responsibility for any enemy combatants returned from 
Guantanamo, including Al Noaimi.  Sheikh Abdul Aziz stressed 
that it was very important to the GOB that one or more of the 
six Bahrainis detained in Guantanamo are either transferred 
or released, as appropriate.  Finally, he noted that 
detainees of European countries were being transferred or 
released in greater numbers than detainees of other 
nationalities. 
MONROE