US embassy cable - 05MANAMA1375

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 001375 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ARPI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/24/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, BA 
SUBJECT: CABINET SHUFFLE IMMINENT; NEW FOREIGN MINISTER 
 
 
Classified By: Classified by Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1 
.4 (b and d) 
 
1.  (C)   Begin Summary:  Newspapers and Embassy sources 
indicate another cabinet shuffle is expected soon, possibly 
by the end of this week. Foreign Minister Shaikh Mohammad bin 
Mubarak Al Khalifa, is expected to step down and we are told 
will be replaced by Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, 
Bahrain's current Ambassador to the U.K.  Minister of 
Information Dr. Mohammad Abdul-Ghaffar will retain that 
portfolio, but may no longer be double-hatted, as the 
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs post which he also 
encumbers may be eliminated.  Minister of Cabinet Affairs 
Abdulhussain Ali Mirza is slated to be the head of a soon to 
be created Energy Council designed to eventually supplant the 
Oil Ministry.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (C)  Shaikh Hamad bin Ebraheem Al Khalifa, Senior Advisor 
to King Hamad, confirmed to the DCM September 21 that 
Bahrain's Ambassador to the U.K. Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmad Al 
Khalifa would be named the new foreign minister in the coming 
few days.  Shaikh Hamad stated that the King knew Shaikh 
Khalid from his early days in the government when he was 
working the issue of relations with Qatar and Bahrain's case 
with the International Court of Justice to establish it's 
sovereignty over the Hawar Islands.  According to Shaikh 
Hamad, the King was impressed with him from that time, and 
has tracked his career ever since. 
 
Time for New Blood 
- - - - - - - - - - - 
 
3.  (C)  Shaikh Hamad praised the current foreign minister as 
a stalwart trooper who had done a great job over a 33-year 
period, but lamented that on some levels Shaikh Mohammad had 
been saddled with old thinking.  He questioned his support 
for pan-Arab causes exclaiming "what did it get us?"  We need 
new blood to go with the changing times, someone to focus 
more specifically on GCC issues and develop relationships 
with the new generation of younger leaders in the Gulf.  He 
stated that Shaikh Mohammad had developed relations with 
former Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Shaikh Sabah Al-Ahmad, and to 
a lesser extent Oman's Yusif bin Alawi, but not so much with 
others in the GCC.  Bahrain wants to strike out in a new 
direction, Shaikh Hamad said, and the King believes Shaikh 
Khalid is the right man to do this. 
 
4.  (C)  Ministry of Foreign Affairs Assistant Undersecretary 
for Coordination Shaikh Abdul-Aziz bin Mubarak Al Khalifa 
told the DCM September 24 that he looked forward to working 
with Shaikh Khalid who has been a close friend since 
childhood. He indicated that Shaikh Khalid finished boarding 
school in Jordan and went on to college in Austin, Texas. 
After his earlier stint in the MFA in Bahrain, he served at 
the Bahraini Embassy in Washington from 1984 until the early 
1990's.  He then was assigned to the staff of the Crown 
Prince's court for a period before assuming his current 
ambassadorial post in London. 
 
Other Possible Changes 
- - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
5.  (C)  Shaikh Hamad indicated that Minister of Cabinet 
Affairs and Tenders Board head Abdulhussain Ali Mirza would 
soon be tapped to establish a new Energy Council (Hay'at 
al-Taqah).  The Council would have oversight and regulatory 
responsibilities on all energy matters, injecting fresh 
thinking into what he termed "a moribund Oil Ministry". 
Shaikh Hamad stated that Mirza's experience gained from years 
with oil company Caltex will serve him well in his new 
position.  He pointed to potential future projects to address 
Bahrain's energy needs, including natural gas importation 
from Qatar which could be locally processed, and drilling for 
heavy oil deposits in the Awali fields utilizing recently 
developed American technology.  "We need creative technocrats 
who can think outside of the box." 
 
6.  (C)  While insisting it is only rumor, Shaikh Abdul-Aziz 
disclosed that he is 90 percent sure that the Minister of 
State for Foreign Affairs position will be eliminated, but 
quickly added that Dr. Abdul-Ghaffar would remain the 
Minister of Information.  He concluded by noting that while 
everyone knew there would be a major cabinet shuffle, no one 
expected it to take place this quickly. 
 
7.  (C)  Comment:  Since taking on the additional portfolio 
of Minister of Information, Abdul-Ghaffar has obviously been 
overburdened trying to do both jobs and has, in fact, been 
spending increasingly less time on his MFA responsibilities. 
With a younger Shaikh Khalid replacing Shaikh Mohammad as 
Minister, we would expect the new Minister to play a more 
active day-to-day role on MFA matters, picking up some of the 
slack that would be left by a departing Abdul-Ghaffar from 
the MFA.  While Shaikh Abdul-Aziz, who had preceded Shaikh 
Khalid as Ambassador in London, may have hoped for the 
foreign minister position himself, the departure of 
Abdul-Ghaffar will also enhance his stature and 
responsibilities. 
 
MONROE