This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 MANAMA 001839 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/11/2015 
TAGS: PGOV ASEC PHUM KDEM BA HUMRIT POL REFORM
SUBJECT: PEACEFUL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY MARCHES REINFORCE 
NEW-FOUND CALM 
 
REF: MANAMA 1773 
 
Classified by DCM Susan L. Ziadeh for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
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Summary 
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¶1.  (C) More than 5,000 people marched in peaceful 
International Human Rights Day rallies December 9, a sharp 
contrast to the small but sometimes destructive 
demonstrations that took place in and around Manama November 
29-December 2.  The Committee for the Unemployed, which had 
organized the violent demonstrations, agreed December 1 in a 
meeting with Al Wifaq President Shaikh Ali Salman to suspend 
all protest activities.  In their Friday prayer sermons on 
December 2, several leading clerics, both Shia and Sunni, 
called for an end to the clashes.  Interior Minister Shaikh 
Rashed met with several activists and pledged to include 
"neutral parties" in an investigation of the alleged 
kidnapping/beating that sparked the violence.  He also 
announced his intention to hire 2,000 citizens during 2006. 
Prominent mainstream columnists praised the peaceful December 
9 marches and warned that civil strife would drag the country 
backward.  While moderate Shia oppositionists once again 
demonstrated their ability to control the fringe elements and 
to prompt favorable action by the government, responsible 
members of the GOB and Al Wifaq will face continuing 
challenges in the months ahead in the run-up to next year's 
elections.  End Summary. 
 
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Peaceful Rallies for Human Rights Day... 
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¶2.  (U) More than 5,000 people participated in peaceful 
demonstrations December 9 to mark International Human Rights 
Day.  The largest rally, which observers estimated drew 
between 4,500 (Ministry of Interior) and 35,000 (organizers) 
participants, was planned by the alliance of four boycotting 
societies - the Shia Al Wifaq and Islamic Action societies 
and the secular Al Waad and Progressive Democratic Forum 
societies.  The theme of the demonstration was "Rights and 
Dignity" and several senior Shia clerics, including Shaikh 
Isa Qassem and Shaikh Abdulla Al Ghuraifi, led the protesters 
on a march along the corniche in downtown Manama. By all 
accounts, even that of pan-Arabist daily Akhbar Al Khaleej, 
no friend of Shia activists, the march was well-organized and 
disciplined.  A second rally of note was held by the Bahrain 
Human Rights Society (BHRS).  Some 60 supporters marched in a 
section of Manama adjacent to the location of the larger 
rally.  In a speech, BHRS Secretary General Sabeeka Al Najjar 
called for the repeal of a decree granting amnesty to police 
officers accused of abuses before 2001. 
 
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...Follow End of Violent Clashes 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) The day's activities were in vivid contrast with the 
sometimes violent and destructive demonstrations that took 
place November 29-December 2 in and around Manama (reftel). 
The protests petered out following a December 1 meeting 
between Al Wifaq President Shaikh Ali Salman and the 
leadership of the Committee for the Unemployed, which 
includes activist Abdul Hadi Al Khawaja and former Executive 
Director of the closed Bahrain Center for Human Rights Nabeel 
Rajab.  In his December 2 Friday prayer sermon, Salman said 
that the Committee had agreed to suspend all protest 
activities and he criticized those who continued to take to 
the streets in spite of the Committee's decision.  In his 
sermon, Shaikh Isa Qassem said, "As much as I encourage the 
government to resolve the issue (of unemployment) and to 
respect human dignity, I also call on our youth not to allow 
their emotions" to control their actions.  Salafi cleric 
Shaikh Salah Al Jowder, who is an exception among Salafi 
clerics because of his occasional outreach to Shia, said in 
his sermon that holding protests and rallies are the right of 
the people, but when these demonstrations get out of control 
and harm the public interest, they are unacceptable to any 
logical person. 
 
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Interior Minister Defuses Crisis 
-------------------------------- 
¶4.  (U) Another important contributing factor to 
reestablishing calm in Bahrain was Minister of Interior 
Shaikh Rashed bin Abdulla Al Khalifa's December 3 meeting 
with Moussa Abdali, whose alleged kidnapping and beating the 
night of November 28 sparked the clashes, and his father, in 
the presence of activist Rajab.  Shaikh Rashed publicly 
pledged to investigate the incident and to include "neutral 
parties" in the investigation.  The next day Abdali told a 
press conference that the Minister had assured him he would 
do everything he could to bring the perpetrators to justice. 
Ali Salman also met with Shaikh Rashed, on December 4, and 
they agreed that the Ministry would hire 2,000 citizens in 
¶2006.  Following the meeting, Salman publicly stressed the 
importance of freedom of expression, but cautioned that 
exercising this freedom must be done in a peaceful manner 
only. 
 
¶5.  (U) The elected lower house of parliament, the Council of 
Representatives (COR), issued a statement December 3 
condemning illegal demonstrations.  The COR formed a 
committee to investigate Abdali's case, and First Vice 
Chairman Abdul Hadi Marhoon hosted a meeting between deputies 
and Abdali.  Participants agreed on the importance of 
expediting the MOI investigation and proposed inviting Shaikh 
Rashed to explain the Ministry's plans.  Deputies hailed 
Shaikh Rashed's actions in calming the atmosphere.  Faisal Al 
Mousawi, chairman of the appointed upper house Shura Council, 
publicly condemned violence and sabotage carried out during 
the protests. 
 
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Commentaries:  Clashes Belong In The Past 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) Independent daily Al Wasat reporter Reem Khalifa said 
in a December 11 column that some in Bahrain are trying to 
import the concept of sectarian division from Iraq.  She 
praised the "Rights and Dignity" rally because it reinforced 
the basic rights of all citizens without discrimination. 
Columnist Sawsan Al Shaer, writing the same day in new Arabic 
daily Al Watan, asserted that "the stage of burning tires and 
blowing up gas cylinders is over," a reference to the 
violence of the 1990s.  "We need an opposition that works 
according to the system; we need an institutionalized 
opposition." 
 
¶7.  (U) Al Wasat editor-in-chief Mansour Al Jamri complained 
in a December 3 column that "some people are trying to 
appoint themselves national heroes and great leaders that 
dare to confront the regime and call for its toppling.  These 
people need not be given any attention."  He recommended that 
citizens instead focus on solving vital national issues such 
as unemployment.  Al Wasat columnist Sayed Dhiya Al Mousawi 
wrote December 3 that all Bahrainis, including religious 
scholars, must reject violence and recognize that Islam 
forbids harming others and their interests.  "We must 
confront all attempts to take the country backward," he said. 
 
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Ominous References to "Safawi" Threat 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (U) A more ominous refrain has also appeared in public 
discourse in the past few weeks - references to the "Safawi" 
threat.  Conservative Sunnis, pan-Arabists, and Baathists 
have used the term, the Arabic form of Safavid, the Iranian 
dynasty that ruled from 1501 to 1736 and that established 
Shia Islam as the official religion, to refer to newly 
empowered Shia populations in Iraq and Bahrain (or, depending 
on one's perspective, Iranian interference in domestic 
affairs).  Deputy and former head of the Salafi Asala bloc in 
parliament Shaikh Adel Al Moawada said in his Friday prayers 
sermon December 3 that Bahrain's Sunni and Shia communities 
"must stand as one to protect Bahrain from the Safawi 
threat."  He claimed that Bahrain had been targeted by a 
foreign country (Iran) that uses a small group of people in 
Bahrain to implement its orders and sabotage the country. 
Akhbar Al Khaleej columnists Hafedh Al Shaikh and Sameera 
Rajab, known for their pan-Arabist, Baathist views, have 
complained that Iraq has been the victim of an 
"Anglo-American, Safawi-Zionist" invasion and occupation. 
 
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Small Groups Cause the Trouble 
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¶9.  (C) Al Wifaq board member Nizar Al Qari told PolOff 
December 12 that those causing trouble in the clashes with 
police were primarily small groups of youths acting on their 
own.  It does not take many people to cause what appears to 
be big trouble, he said, describing his having witnessed 
three young men lighting a tire on fire and, when police came 
to investigate, throwing stones and yelling at them.  An 
undercurrent of the recent clashes was sentiment against 
foreigners in the security forces, almost entirely Sunnis 
from the Arab world and South Asia.  Although Interior 
Minister Shaikh Rashed announced his intention to hire 2,000 
citizens in 2006, many Shia are still upset that 
non-Bahrainis from the security services are being granted 
citizenship in recognition of their service to the country. 
 
¶10.  (C) Al Qari said that Ali Salman organized the large 
"Rights and Dignity" march partly to draw attention away from 
the small groups of troublemakers and to encourage them to 
join with the more moderate Shia mainstream.  When Al Wifaq 
sponsors a rally, he said, it adheres to three principles: 
(1) the demonstration must have a clearly stated goal; (2) 
participants must conduct themselves in an orderly fashion; 
and (3) all participants must be known to Al Wifaq, in order 
to avoid embarrassment instigated by outsiders. 
 
¶11.  (C) Reacting to the violent demonstrations, Shia MP 
Mohammed Al Shaikh said that the Royal Court's initiatives to 
develop a national employment project and unemployment 
insurance scheme should help address the long-term problem of 
unemployment.  He attributed the decrease in tension to the 
Interior Minister's meeting with Moussa Abdali and leading 
Shia personalities, and his pledge to boost the Ministry's 
employment of Bahrainis.  Shaikh Mohammed Sanqoor's statement 
on behalf of the Shia Islamic Clergy Council urging the 
Committee for the Unemployed to give Al Wifaq an opportunity 
to achieve progress on the unemployment issue was also 
important. 
 
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Comment 
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¶12.  (C) In almost automatic fashion, as soon as more 
moderate leaders in the Shia opposition became engaged with 
responsible officials in the government, violent 
demonstrations organized by the radical fringe slowed and 
then stopped.  While it is positive news that Al Wifaq played 
a constructive role in helping end the clashes and appears 
committed to participating in next year's parliamentary 
elections, both Al Wifaq and the government face daunting 
challenges in the coming months.  Al Wifaq will be challenged 
by Shia activists who have chosen to remain outside the 
electoral process and will compete aggressively for support 
among disaffected youth and unemployed who are impatient with 
a lack of job prospects or the pace of reform.  The extreme 
elements will argue that Al Wifaq's restrained approach 
allows the government to avoid dealing seriously with 
fundamental political and social grievances. 
 
¶13. (C) At the same time, the government (most notably the 
King), which to date has done well in enticing Al Wifaq to 
participate in the 2006 parliamentary elections and has 
successfully dealt with provocative demonstrations with 
limited force and no arrests, will have to walk a fine line 
in dealing with the various pressures it faces.  On the one 
hand, conservative Sunni elements (personified by the Prime 
Minister and his supporters) are becoming impatient with the 
demonstrations, arguing that they are jeopardizing Bahrain's 
attractiveness to investors and suggesting that a more 
forceful crackdown might be necessary.  On the other hand, 
the King is committed to his reform process and is sensitive 
to potential criticism from abroad if he appears to be 
backtracking.  Finally, there is a sectarian element at play, 
exacerbated by the rhetoric coming from new Iranian President 
Ahmadinejad and the oft-repeated fear that Iran may be 
directly or indirectly increasing its intervention in 
Bahrain's internal affairs.  The King also has to worry about 
his neighbors, many of whom have their own Shia concerns and 
don't want to see Bahrain abetting any sense of Shia 
empowerment in the region.  So, while both sides have 
successfully calmed the latest sectarian flare-up, they will 
continue to be tested in coming months. 
 
MONROE