US embassy cable - 05MANAMA792

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAMA 000792 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2015 
TAGS: PREL, ASEC, BA, IZ, EUN 
SUBJECT: BAHRAIN:  DEMARCHING INVITEES TO THE U.S.-EU 
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON IRAQ 
 
REF: A. STATE 94861 
 
     B. STATE 93742 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
. 
 
1.  (C) Ambassador June 1 delivered Ref B demarche concerning 
the invitation to the June 21-22 international conference on 
Iraq in Brussels to Minister of State for Foreign 
Affairs/Minister of Information Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar. 
Abdul Ghaffar, who spends much of his time now at the 
Ministry of Information, was unaware of the conference but 
promised to look into it.  (Note:  Ambassador had spoken 
earlier with British Ambassador to Bahrain Lamb, who 
represents the EU in the Kingdom, about a joint delivery of 
the invitation, but Lamb said he had not received 
instructions to deliver the invitation.  End Note.) 
 
2.  (C) Pol/Econ chief also delivered Ref B demarche to MFA 
Assistant Under Secretary for Coordination and Follow Up 
Shaikh Abdul Aziz bin Mubarak Al Khalifa June 1.  Shaikh 
Abdul Aziz noted that Foreign Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin 
Mubarak Al Khalifa had received an invitation to attend the 
conference directly from Brussels the previous day.  The 
Foreign Minister planned to attend the conference.  He had 
been scheduled to be in Singapore to attend a meeting of an 
Asian-Middle East council, but it was more important that he 
be in Brussels to demonstrate support for the Iraqi 
Transitional Government. 
 
3.  (C) Shaikh Abdul Aziz said that the Bahraini Embassy in 
Baghdad reported that Iraq was on the brink of civil war.  He 
said that the international community needed to do all it 
could to increase stability in Iraq.  If basic human needs 
were not met, life was not worth living, leading people to 
join the insurgency.  Shaikh Abdul Aziz hoped the Brussels 
conference would bring a measure of hope to the Iraqi people. 
 
MONROE