VZCZCXRO2731
OO RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHMK #0198/01 0610656
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 020656Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY MANAMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6489
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 0646
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 1302
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 0661
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 0902
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 1185
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0982
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0894
RUEHYN/AMEMBASSY SANAA PRIORITY 0648
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV PRIORITY 3583
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 0275
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 2636
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHBVAKS/COMUSNAVCENT  PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 MANAMA 000198 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 1258: DECL: 02/27/2017 
TAGS: PGOV ASEC KISL BAPOL
SUBJECT: RELEASE OF TWO DETAINEES RESTORES CLM TO SHIA 
AREAS, FOR NOW 
 
REF: A. MANAMA 0113 
     ¶B. MANAMA 0096 
     ¶C. MANAMA 0093 
 
Clasified By: DCM Susan L. Ziadeh for reasons 1.4 (b) nd (d). 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (C) ing Hamad February 25 ordered the release of twoShia detainees who had 
been tried, convicted, and imprisoned 
for distributing illegal literature durng the fall 2006 
election campaign season.  Thei release ended some ten days 
of sometimes violen demonstrations in and around their two 
neighborng villages, which resulted in a nearby major road 
being blocked several times.  According to a Minitry of 
Interior (MOI) press statement, a young mn arrested for 
participating in the demonstratios told police about a 
training camp on a farm ouside the village of Bani Jamra 
where some 35 yout learned to make and throw Molotov 
cocktails.  Snni-friendly newspapers ran the story under 
bannr headlines declaring discovery of a "terrrist training 
camp," while a Shia-run paper printed a satirical story with 
photos of bored barnyard animals labeled as terrorists.  The 
controversy demonstrates the raw nature of sectarian 
relations and highlights the challenges the government faces 
as it tries to navigate a fine line between keeping order, 
addressing Shia grievances, and maintaining its Sunni base. 
End Summary. 
 
------------------------------ 
King Orders Detainees Released 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (SBU) King Hamad February 25 ordered the release of two 
Shia citizens who were convicted in early February of 
distributing illegal subversive literature during the fall 
2006 pre-election period and given sentences of one year and 
six months (respectively) in prison.  The two detainees, 
Mohammed Al Sahlawi and Hussain Al Habashi, thanked the 
political leadership "and all those who have exerted efforts" 
to gain their release.  Al Sahlawi said he hoped theirs would 
be the last opinion case that enters Bahrain's courts because 
"we live under the reforms project that is built on freedom 
of opinion."  Leading Shia political society Al Wifaq issued 
a statement hailing the move, which it considered "to be a 
step on the right path." 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Al Sahlawi and Al Habashi's release comes after 
some ten days of demonstrations in and around their two 
nearby villages, which straddle a major artery between Manama 
and the northwestern town of Budaiya.  The protests and 
clashes between participants and security forces, with 
burning tires and tear gas, forced the closure of the road 
several evenings and resulted in the arrest of some youth. 
One of those arrested on/about February 18 told police that 
he and a companion, who was also arrested, had received 
training along with some 35 others at a camp on a farm near 
the village of Bani Jamra.  According to the Ministry of 
Interior, they said they learned how to make and use Molotov 
cocktails to attack security forces and police.  The MOI 
issued a statement to the press February 19 that it had 
"uncovered a plot to destabilize the country through 
organized systematic riots," some of which had already taken 
place. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Headlines Scream About "Terrorist Camp" 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Local newspapers Al Watan and Akhbar Al Khaleej, 
which are close to the government and present the news with a 
pro-Sunni slant, ran articles February 20 covering the MOI 
statement under bold headlines announcing the discovery of a 
"terrorist training camp" near Bani Jamra.  They also printed 
a photograph of a box of empty glass bottles identified as 
 
MANAMA 00000198  002 OF 004 
 
 
materials for Molotov cocktails that were seized at the camp. 
 Over the next few days, these papers ran several articles 
and commentaries condemning this apparent Shia conspiracy 
inside the country.  Daily Al Wasat, a newspaper reflecting 
Shia issues, slammed back on February 21, running a full-page 
satirical article about having "stormed terrorist training 
strongholds" in Bani Jamra and finding a donkey that lost its 
ear at the camp, a flock of sheep participating in drills, a 
dog waiting for his orders, and the chimpanzee who is the 
"leader of the terrorists."  A number of pastoral photographs 
showing bored barnyard animals accompanied the article.  Al 
Wasat also pointed out that the photo of empty bottles in a 
box that was printed in Al Watan and Akhbar Al Khaleej had 
been distributed by the Ministry of Interior in January 2006 
about an incident that took place in a different part of the 
country. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) About 100 Bani Jamra residents February 23 staged a 
peaceful protest to repudiate the accusation that their 
village was the site of a training camp.  That same day, the 
MOI press office released a statement attempting to clarify 
the information it had obtained from the two arrested youth 
and distancing the Ministry from Al Watan and Akhbar Al 
Khaleej's breathless headlines and coverage.  The statement 
read, "It has been noticed lately that some newspapers and 
writers exaggerated the Ministry's statement about arresting 
a person possessing a Molotov cocktail.  This statement 
included the confession of the accused and did not refer to a 
specific area because the incident could happen in any part 
of the country."  It called on journalists to be more 
accurate and objective and to refer to the Ministry's 
statements without embellishment.  It released two new 
photographs of the camp showing a small plot of land with 
some scrubby plants and seven empty glass bottles lying on 
the ground. 
 
--------------------- 
Clerics Call For Calm 
--------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) In their Friday prayer sermons on February 23, Shia 
clerics Shaikhs Isa Qassem and Abdullah Al Ghuraifi and Sunni 
cleric Shaikh Salah Al Jowder all denounced the recurring 
street violence.  Qassem called on youth to stop burning 
tires and disrupting the flow of traffic.  He said, "We are 
against this and we demand the youth to stop doing it."  Al 
Ghuraifi said there are crises and tensions in the country 
that must be addressed properly so they do not result in 
extremism and violence.  Al Jowder complained that threats to 
the country's security come as a result of sectarian and 
terrorist cultures that enter Bahrain from neighboring 
countries. 
 
¶7.  (C) During a February 22 meeting, Al Wifaq foreign 
relations liaison Saeed Al Majed told Pol/Econ Chief that MOI 
Chief of Public Security General Zayani had phoned Al Wifaq 
Secretary General and MP Shaikh Ali Salman before the MOI 
 
SIPDIS 
released its February 19 statement about the training center. 
 According to Al Majed, Zayani was worried about how Shia 
youth, who had already been involved in demonstrations for 
days, would react to the news.  He reportedly requested that 
Salman do what he could to calm people down. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Interior Official Blames Press for Controversy 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶8.  (C) General Zayani told the Ambassador that there was a 
real location in Bani Jamra where training had been taking 
place.  He said the police had been directed to the site by 
one of the youth they had arrested.  The detainee had said 
that people had gathered there to learn how to make and throw 
Molotov cocktails.  He indicated that there was not a lot of 
material at the farm, but there had been instruction going on 
there.  He emphasized that the Ministry of Interior had never 
said that this was a terrorist training camp.  He blamed the 
press for making an issue out of it - the Sunni papers for 
 
MANAMA 00000198  003 OF 004 
 
 
exaggerating the "terrorism" aspect of the camp, and Shia Al 
Wasat for attacking the Ministry of Interior so harshly. 
 
¶9.  (C) Information Minister Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar told the 
Ambassador at a function that people were very angry at Al 
Wasat for its satirical article, saying that Al Wasat was 
mocking the MOI and this was something that simply should not 
be done.  Al Wasat, in effect, had crossed the line with this 
piece, he said.  Al Wasat Editor-in-Chief Mansour Al Jamry 
happened also to attend the function, and he and Abdul 
Ghaffar soon fell into a heated discussion, which was 
witnessed by the Ambassador.  Al Jamry's point was two-fold: 
first, it was ridiculous to call this place a terrorist camp. 
 One does not need training of any significance to learn how 
to make or throw Molotov cocktails, so it just does not make 
sense for the government to claim there was such a training 
camp.  Second, he was annoyed that the Sunni press was 
allowed to write inflammatory, sectarian, anti-Shia articles 
and editorials, and the government did nothing to stop it. 
However, it watched what Al Wasat was writing very closely. 
When the Sunni press called this a "terrorist camp" and the 
government did nothing to correct the record, he felt he had 
to do something.  Al Jamry told the Ambassador privately that 
he had been called in that day to see General Zayani, who had 
requested that Al Jamry scale back the rhetoric in the coming 
days.  Al Jamry agreed to do so, and in fact Al Wasat's 
coveage has cooled considerably. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Exaggerated Accusations of Terrorism 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶10.  (C) In a separate conversation, Al Wifaq MP Khalil 
Marzouq told the Ambassador that he was critical of those who 
equated what the Shia youth were doing with Molotov cocktails 
and burning tires with "terrorism."  Their activities were 
"such small-scale stuff" that had no relation at all to 
terrorism.  He was also critical of those who said that the 
activities of these Shia youth were having a negative impact 
on the investment climate.  (Note:  A common refrain in 
certain newspapers.)  Small demonstrations in poor Shia 
villages were not affecting the investment climate, he 
stated.  However, exaggerated press reporting of "terrorist 
camps" could. 
 
¶11.  (C) In a March 1 conversation, Minister of State for 
Foreign Affairs and a former Al Wifaq leader Nizar Al Baharna 
told the Ambassador that the hardline Haq Movement is the 
force behind recent disturbances.  They deploy groups of 
youth to one place or another to rile people up before moving 
on, he said.  But he discounts allegations of a training camp 
because "they're not that organized."  He said that he spoke 
to Interior Minister Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa 
about the incidents, and Shaikh Rashid wants to take measures 
to build trust between the security forces and Shia 
community.  Shaikh Rashid proposed that, when police detain a 
protester, an Al Wifaq member should be called to be present 
during processing.  Al Baharna said that he told Al Wifaq 
that when it sees something wrong, from the government or 
Shia side, it should say so publicly. 
 
------------------- 
Columnists Weigh In 
------------------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Al Watan columnist Sawsan Al Shaer, who often has 
a balanced perspective of events, wrote February 25 that the 
most dangerous consequence of the blow-up over the training 
camp story is the "evident division of our press" into Sunni 
and Shia sides.  She complained, "The press was biased and 
did not play the role that it is expected to play to properly 
reflect the content of a statement as it is."  (Note:  A 
reference to the MOI's February 19 statement.)  She 
continued, "We demand that editors-in-chief wait for one 
minute, reevaluate their work, and start all over again.  We 
need camps to teach us where an irresponsible word could lead 
us!" 
 
MANAMA 00000198  004 OF 004 
 
 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Likely in reaction to General Zayani's admonition, 
Mansour Al Jamry in a February 26 column praised the release 
of Al Sahlawi and Al Habashi, saying it reinforced the 
political openness that the country has lived in since 2001. 
He stated, "We must recognize the importance of protecting 
our rights to freedom of opinion but we also must recognize 
that we have a responsibility to protect the security of the 
country...  We must establish balance between protecting our 
country, our youth, and our rights."  On February 28, he 
wrote that there should be a partnership between security 
agencies and society.  Peace and stability cannot prevail 
without the collaboration of the two sides - the police and 
the people, promoting a sense of social partnership. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶14.  (C) The release of Al Sahlawi and Al Habashi has 
restored calm to the Shia villages in the northern tier of 
Bahrain, for now.  However, the manufactured crisis over the 
"terrorist training camp" demonstrates the current rawness in 
sectarian relations.  Additionally, while the King's stepping 
in and ordering the release of the two detainees has soothed 
Shia nerves, many Sunnis, and not just hardliners, are 
grumbling about the King's catch-and-release policy, which he 
has employed several times for Shia troublemakers.  The 
government will continue to navigate a fine line between 
keeping order, addressing Shia grievances, and maintaining 
its Sunni base. 
 
 
********************************************* ******** 
Visit Embassy Manama's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/manama/ 
********************************************* ******** 
MONROE