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 02 MANAMA 000013 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/02/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM BA POL REFORM
SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT REACTS TO PUBLIC CRITICISM OF REGIME 
 
REF: A. 05 MANAMA 1916 
     ¶B. 05 MANAMA 1910 
     ¶C. 05 MANAMA 1506 
 
Classified by Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4 
(b) and (d). 
 
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Summary 
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¶1.  (C) In response to their public statements critical of 
the regime, the government briefly detained Shia cleric 
Mohammed Al Sanad December 25 (Refs A/B) and questioned 
activists Ibrahim Sharif and Abdul Nabi Al Ekry December 28. 
In their comments to Kuwaiti newspaper Al Qabas in 
mid-December, Sharif and Al Ekry criticized the regime and 
gave statements that the government may have interpreted as 
questioning the legitimacy of Al Khalifa family rule in 
Bahrain.  An Interior Ministry official told the press that 
the two were asked to clarify their statements to Al Qabas, 
but said they would not be prosecuted.  In the face of 
increasingly aggressive actions from the Shia majority, the 
government appears determined to try to set some limits in 
terms of violence at demonstrations and provocative 
statements that question the very legitimacy of the Al 
Khalifa regime.  End Summary. 
 
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Sharif Criticizes Reforms, Cites Shia Support for Country 
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¶2.  (SBU) Following quickly on the heels of the brief 
detention of Shia cleric Shaikh Mohammed Al Sanad December 25 
for anti-regime statements issued from Iran (Refs A/B), the 
Bahrain National Security Agency (BNSA) December 28 
separately summoned activists Ibrahim Sharif and Abdul Nabi 
Al Ekry to discuss their mid-December public comments to 
Kuwait newspaper Al Qabas that were critical of the 
government.  Interior Ministry official Colonel Buhumood told 
the press December 29 that BNSA officials had explained to 
him that Sharif and Al Ekry had been called in to clarify 
their statements to the newspaper.  He said that the BNSA 
officials had cautioned the two activists on the importance 
of understanding the legal limits of acceptable speech.  He 
announced that the government has no intention of bringing a 
case to the public prosecutor. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Sharif is the president of Al Waad ("The Promise") 
society, which applied for registration with the Ministry of 
Justice as a political society in late October and is still 
awaiting a response (Ref C).  Formerly known as the National 
Democratic Action Society, Al Waad is one of the four 
boycotting political societies.  It is a secular socialist 
organization with a small but influential membership.  Sharif 
told Al Qabas that the reforms of King Hamad were "not true" 
and that without a partnership between the authority and the 
people, there would not be stability in Bahrain.  He affirmed 
that the opposition in Bahrain has always called for 
reforming the regime and never suggested changing it.  He 
refused to question the loyalty of Bahrain's Shia population, 
saying that it was their support that gave Bahrain its 
independence and affirmed the Al Khalifa as the ruling family 
in a 1970 UN referendum, rejecting a relationship with Iran, 
which had a territorial claim on Bahrain. 
 
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Al Ekry Says Regime Bolsters Its Interests, Not Nation's 
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¶4.  (SBU) Al Ekry is a board member of the Bahrain Human 
Rights Society and a former exile who returned to Bahrain 
following the King's launch of the reform process in 2000. 
Al Ekry organized the November "parallel" Forum for the 
Future conference for NGOs that took place a few days prior 
to the official Forum, and to which the GOB contributed some 
$100,000.  He discussed several hot-button issues in his 
interview with Al Qabas, including the practice of granting 
citizenship to Sunnis who have worked in the military and 
security services, foreign laborers and their impact on 
unemployment, human rights, and the independence of the 
judiciary. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In perhaps the most controversial comments, Al Ekry 
accuses the government of not being truly committed to 
reform.  He says, "By organizing so many protests and 
demonstrations, the Bahraini people were able to some extent 
to expose the lie that Bahrain is a democracy and that it 
does not discriminate...  The sect that the government 
identifies with is the one that shares its interests.  There 
are alliances among those who benefit from the ruling regime 
and there are also discriminatory policies because the regime 
is governed by tribal and sectarian fanaticism.  That is why 
there are discriminatory policies against Shia, those of 
Persian origin, tribes that are not allied with the regime, 
and those who hold opinions different from the state...  We 
have freedom of expression but we cannot criticize the ruling 
family and the King is a taboo area." 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Following their meetings with BNSA, Sharif told the 
press that officials had understood from his comments to Al 
Qabas that he was "inciting the people against the regime," 
which Sharif denied.  Al Ekry said that he told the BNSA that 
his comments should be viewed in the context of his 
statements over the past five years, since he returned from 
exile.  He said, "We believe in the reform project that the 
King is leading, but I explained to the officials that this 
project must be pushed forward." 
 
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Comment 
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¶7.  (C) The accusations of Sharif and Al Ekry, combined with 
Al Sanad's late November statement saying that the Bahraini 
regime is "suffering from a lack of legal legitimacy" and 
declaring that the sole solution to Bahrain's political 
problems is "a new constitution drafted by elected Bahrainis 
and monitored by the UN away from the interference of the 
current regime," hit the government where it hurts - 
criticizing the regime and even questioning the legitimacy of 
Al Khalifa rule.  Al Sanad's and Sharif's references to the 
1970 UN-administered referendum on Bahrain's future also 
reopens an old wound.  In that vote, all sectors of Bahraini 
society supported Bahrain's independence (from Iran) and 
established the Al Khalifa as the rulers of the country. 
Suggestions that another referendum should be held, or 
reminders that to some extent, the Al Khalifa owe their 
position to support from Bahrain's Shia, irritate the ruling 
family. 
 
¶8.  (C) Comment continued:  The government has been fending 
off increasingly aggressive actions from its Shia majority 
for the past month, including violent clashes between 
demonstrators and police, the recent discovery of a cache of 
Molotov cocktails in a Shia neighborhood, and international 
pressure campaigns organized by Shia Bahraini exiles in the 
West.  It is also concerned about the impact of events in 
Iran and Iraq on Bahrain's Shia community.  In this context, 
it is increasingly edgy about opposition tactics and appears 
determined to try to set some limits in terms of 
demonstrations that turn violent and provocative statements 
that question the very legitimacy of the Al Khalifa regime. 
We expect tensions to remain elevated in the lead up to May's 
municipal elections and October's parliamentary elections. 
 
MONROE