US embassy cable - 05MANAMA910

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000910 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, NEA/PI, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/27/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, KMPI, KDEM, PREL, BA 
SUBJECT: MEPI-FUNDED NDI PROJECT COMES UNDER FIRE 
 
 
Classified by Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4 
(b) and (d). 
 
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Summary 
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1.  (C) The MEPI-funded National Democratic Institute (NDI) 
project in Bahrain has attracted criticism from many 
directions recently.  Minister of State for Foreign Affairs 
Abdul Ghaffar has privately expressed his concerns to the 
Ambassador several times that NDI gives too much emphasis to 
opposition views at the expense of government supporters.  MP 
Mohammed Khalid, an outspoken opponent of the United States, 
complained that NDI should not be "the custodian of the 
democratic process in Bahrain."  Shia cleric Shaikh Issa 
Qassem attacked NDI in his June 17 sermon, saying that NDI is 
a "modern cultural invader" and enemy of religion and Islam. 
Following NDI's demand for a retraction, Al Wifaq President 
Shaikh Ali Salman said publicly that Qassem was not referring 
to NDI in his comments.  Despite the overheated rhetoric, we 
have detected no change in the GOB's full support for NDI, 
and we consider the project to be essential to achieving our 
democratization policy goals.  End Summary. 
 
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Abdul Ghaffar Complains of NDI Slant 
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2.  (C) NDI's Bahrain project has come under fire from 
government officials, parliamentarians, columnists, and, most 
recently, the Kingdom's most prominent Shia cleric.  Minister 
of State for Foreign Affairs/Information Minister Mohammed 
Abdul Ghaffar has expressed concern to the Ambassador on 
several occasions in the past few months about NDI's 
activities.  Abdul Ghaffar, who was likely under instructions 
from the Cabinet, complained that NDI was too sympathetic to 
the (Shia) opposition's perspective and provided a platform 
for their views at seminars and workshops without allowing 
other (pro-government) points of view.  Abdul Ghaffar also 
claimed that NDI Director Fawzi Guleid was not keeping the 
GOB informed about his activities.  The Ambassador told Abdul 
Ghaffar that the USG strongly backed NDI's activities in 
Bahrain.  He emphasized that NDI always partnered with a 
local organization and ensured a wide range of views in its 
seminars.  He also gave Abdul Ghaffar a copy of NDI's program 
of activities, which Guleid had passed to the Minister a few 
months earlier. 
 
3.  (U) In an ironic turn, Abdul Ghaffar appeared before the 
Council of Representatives (COR - elected lower house of 
parliament) June 14 to defend NDI.  MP Shaikh Mohammed 
Khalid, a member of Al Minbar (Muslim Brotherhood) bloc in 
the COR and a vociferous opponent of the United States, told 
Abdul Ghaffar that a foreign establishment (NDI) should not 
"come here and become the custodian of the democratic process 
in Bahrain."  Abdul Ghaffar responded that NDI is not 
crossing any red lines and is helping promote democracy.  He 
pointed out (accurately) that Al Minbar is an avid 
participant in NDI activities.  Khalid said he was proud to 
be a member of Al Minbar but that he does not share its views 
about "this suspicious institute." 
 
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Cleric Brands NDI "Enemy of Religion" 
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4.  (SBU) Bahrain's senior-most Shia cleric Shaikh Issa 
Qassem attacked NDI in his June 17 sermon.  (Note:  Qassem 
has publicly criticized NDI in the past; in June 2004, he 
complained that NDI had not officially registered with the 
GOB like other organizations.  This is still the case, but 
NDI is in the process of negotiating an MOU with the Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs.)  Qassem said, "This government, like all 
other governments, is very sensitive to any local political 
role played by a foreign country or organization...  We ask, 
why the exception for NDI?  What are the justifications?... 
Their intervention is not only harmful to the government but 
to the people as well.  To a great extent, it is a modern 
cultural invader, an enemy of religion, an enemy of earthly 
interests, and an enemy of the peoples of this faith (Islam)." 
 
5.  (C) Guleid called on the Ambassador June 21 and said that 
he had just departed a meeting with leading Shia opposition 
society Al Wifaq President Shaikh Ali Salman.  Guleid had 
passed Salman a letter from NDI/Washington Middle East Senior 
Director Les Campbell to Qassem demanding an explanation and 
retraction of his comments.  Guleid reported that Salman had 
promised to take up the matter with Qassem and stressed that 
he (Salman) did not share Qassem's opinion about NDI.  Guleid 
told the Ambassador that Qassem had no right to make the 
types of statements he did.  It was legitimate to oppose 
NDI's programming, but Qassem's comments about NDI being an 
enemy of Islam were "beyond the pale."  Guleid was worried 
that radicals in other countries where NDI operates with 
large Shia populations, including Iraq and Lebanon, could 
pick up Qassem's statements and possibly consider attacking 
NDI personnel in the name of Islam. 
 
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A Retraction, Of Sorts 
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6.  (C) Perhaps in response to NDI's demand, Qassem said in 
his June 24 sermon, "We must be wise and reasonable even with 
foreign antagonistic rhetoric against Islam.  We must be 
vigilant and alert but we must be as far as possible from 
fatwas of terrorism and incitement.  We must not spread the 
language of violence in the local and international 
community.  Our school is a school of peace, security, 
stability and dialogue.  Our slogan remains 'the dialogue of 
civilizations' instead of 'the clash of civilizations.'"  In 
an article in the June 27 edition of the independent Al Wasat 
newspaper, Salman told a reporter that Qassem did not mean 
NDI when he described foreign intervention as the enemy of 
religion.  Guleid told us he had requested that the offending 
portions of Qassem's June 17 sermon be removed from the 
cleric's website.  He was, however, satisfied with the 
statements of Qassem and Salman and would now drop the matter. 
 
7.  (U) The usual bunch of anti-American columnists have 
jumped on the bandwagon to criticize NDI.  Mahmeed Al Mahmeed 
of Akhbar Al Khaleej newspaper suggested in his June 17 
column that if NDI had been Saudi or Iranian, suspicions 
would have been raised much sooner.  Adel Al Marzook, also 
from Akhbar Al Khaleej, wrote on June 18, "The current agenda 
of NDI is the agenda of the American political rhetoric. 
When the priorities of U.S. policy change, NDI's role will 
also change."  In contrast, Sawsan Al Shaer of Al Ayam 
newspaper June 20 questioned the validity of the critiques of 
NDI.  She wrote that the motivation behind the criticism is 
political and that those coming down hard on NDI have yet to 
prove that the organization's activities are harmful to 
Bahrain's national interest. 
 
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Comment 
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8.  (C) Despite recent criticism in Bahrain, we have detected 
no change in the GOB's full commitment to NDI.  The Royal 
Court, in particular, is a strong supporter.  This incident, 
however, demonstrates the sensitive nature of the political 
issues NDI works on, and highlights Bahrainis' distress about 
perceived outside influence in their fledgling democracy.  We 
consider NDI programming to be an essential tool in achieving 
our democratization policy objectives. 
 
MONROE