US embassy cable - 05MANAMA1580

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 001580 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, ECON, KISL, BA 
SUBJECT: CREEPING CONSERVATISM HITS HOTELS DURING RAMADAN 
 
Sensitive but unclassified; please protect accordingly.  Not 
for Internet distribution. 
 
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Summary 
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1.  (SBU) Bahrain's Tourism Directorate issued instructions 
to five-star hotels in early October directing them to stop 
serving alcohol in their bars and restaurants during the holy 
month of Ramadan, an unprecedented development.  Compliance 
was spotty at first but by mid-month all hotels had 
implemented the order following threats of closure.  Hotel 
general managers downplayed any impact on their business, 
saying that Ramadan is always a slow period for business 
travelers and tourists.  A government contact said the 
Tourism Directorate took the decision under pressure from, 
and in consultation with, Islamist parliamentarians.  Liberal 
columnists condemned the move, saying it was moving Bahrain 
"back in time to the dark ages."  The government may have 
calculated that banning the bottle during Ramadan was a 
relatively low-cost way to appease the Islamists.  End 
Summary. 
 
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Ramadan Kareem - Close the Bars 
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2.  (SBU) The Ministry of Information's Tourism Directorate 
issued a directive in early October just days before the 
advent of the month of Ramadan, which started in Bahrain on 
October 4, instructing five-star hotels not to serve alcohol 
in their bars and restaurants during the holy month. 
According to our contacts, this was the first time five-star 
hotels were barred from serving alcohol during Ramadan, 
bringing them into line with all other hotels, restaurants, 
and bars on the island. 
 
3.  (SBU) Hotels' compliance with the order was spotty at 
best during the first few days of the month.  A Ministry of 
Information contact told us most hotels ignored the order, 
and the Tourism Directorate had to issue two additional 
directives, the second of which included the threat that the 
government would force the hotel to close temporarily if it 
continued to serve alcohol.  Visitors staying at hotels, 
including Embassy TDYers, confirmed that hotels closed their 
bars practically in mid-drink one evening about two weeks 
into Ramadan. 
 
4.  (SBU) Hotel general managers confirmed that the Tourism 
Directorate advised them several times to stop serving in the 
bars and restaurants, though they continued to stock 
mini-bars in the rooms.  The GMs downplayed any impact the 
bottle ban had on business, but noted that some hotels were 
forced to furlough bar and restaurant staff, almost all of 
whom are expats.  One manager admitted that the normal flow 
of Westerners coming from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain on weekends 
had slowed. 
 
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Pressure from Islamist MPs 
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5.  (SBU) The Information Ministry contact said that the 
Ministry took the decision under pressure from Islamist 
parliamentarians.  The Ministry included MPs in the policy 
formation process before issuing the directive.  He commented 
that the impact on tourism and business travel would likely 
be light because the number of these types of visitors drops 
each Ramadan anyway. 
 
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Columnists Accuse Government of Caving 
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6.  (SBU) Columnists Abdulla Al Ayoubi and Abdul Moneim 
Ibrahim from Arabic daily Akhbar Al Khaleej and Saeed Al 
Hamad from Arabic daily Al Ayam have written several articles 
condemning the government's decision to ban alcohol, accusing 
the government of caving in to demands of Islamist deputies. 
Al Ayoubi wrote on October 26 that Bahrain "is transforming 
into a new Taliban regime."  He believes the government is 
being too cautious with "religious radicals who are taking us 
back in time to the dark ages."  He added that business 
people do not choose to invest in a climate dominated by 
religious radicalism and restrictions on personal freedoms. 
In an October 26 column, Ibrahim mocked Islamist politicians' 
demands that Bahrain host only "clean tourism," asking what 
detergent the country should use to be certain that all 
tourists are clean. 
 
7.  (SBU) MP Mohammed Khalid, an aggressive Sunni Islamist 
politician, hit back at the columnists in an article posted 
in several Bahraini chatrooms.  He accused them of waging a 
campaign against Islamic deputies and defended promoting 
alcohol-free tourism in Bahrain, saying the country should 
not rely on alcohol to attract tourists. 
 
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Comment 
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8.  (SBU) The Ramadan alcohol ban is the first major 
manifestation of the influence of Islamist deputies on 
Bahrain's traditional openness and tolerance since the early 
2004 decisions to protest the musical concert of a Lebanese 
pop star and to close down an Arab satellite reality TV 
program in which young men and women shared a common house. 
The government may have calculated that banning alcohol 
during Ramadan, traditionally a slow period for tourist and 
business travel, was a low-cost way to appease the Islamists. 
 
MONROE