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

271345Z Feb 06

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MANAMA 000288 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KPAO PTER BA IZ REGION POL
SUBJECT: BAHRAIN REACTS TO SECTARIAN VIOLENCE IN IRAQ 
 
REF: STATE 28802 
 
Classified by DCM Susan L. Ziadeh for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
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Summary 
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¶1.  (C) Tens of thousands of Bahrainis, mostly Shias, 
participated in peaceful and orderly demonstrations over the 
weekend protesting the attack on the Imam Al Hadi Shrine in 
Samarra.  Officials, politicians, and religious leaders 
denounced the Samarra bombing and revenge attacks on Sunni 
targets.  The Cabinet issued a statement February 26 calling 
on Iraqis to exercise self-restraint, and politicians and 
political societies condemned sectarianism.  In their Friday 
prayer sermons on February 24, clerics called for Muslim 
unity and some wondered about whether there is an American or 
Israeli hand in the violence.  Columnists went in several 
directions:  some called for increased efforts to overcome 
sectarianism, others blamed Sunnis for not condemning 
previous violence, and Baathists blamed the United States for 
creating the conditions for the strife to occur.  The trend 
by some in Sunni and Shia quarters to lay blame on the United 
States, which echoes similar statements in Iraq, bears 
watching.  End Summary. 
 
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Tens of Thousands Participate in Peaceful Rallies 
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¶2.  (U) Bahrainis, mostly Shias, participated in peaceful and 
orderly demonstrations across the country February 22-24 to 
condemn the February 22 attack on the Imam Al Hadi Shrine in 
Samarra.  Protests took place in Manama, Muharraq, Sitra, 
Sanabis, Daih, Diraz, and Karranah.  The largest rally, with 
some 20,000 participants (according to a reliable source), 
took place after Friday prayers February 24 and closed 
streets and highways between the village of Qadam and the 
Seef commercial district. 
 
¶3.  (U) Islamic Clerics Council Chair Shaikh Issa Qassem, 
Bahrain's most influential Shia cleric, led the procession 
and called for those carrying out terrorist activities in the 
name of Islam to be punished.  He accused the perpetrators of 
seeking to sow divisions between Muslims.  He told the 
participants, "Those who claim to have done this in the name 
of Islam are non-believers, seeking to destroy the image of 
Muslims the world over.  Muslim brothers' blood, money and 
dignity should always be protected and any Muslim who harms 
another is not a Muslim and should be treated as an infidel. 
Sunnis or Shias, we are gathered here today to show that 
Islam stands for tolerance and love for one another."  He 
called for all Iraqis to unite and to stop incitement. 
Marchers carried signs with photos of the destroyed shrine 
saying "No to Sectarian Sedition" and "This is What the 
Followers of Yazeed Do," a reference to the army that killed 
Imam Hussein and his followers in 680 AD at the battle of 
Kerbala. 
 
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Government, Officials Condemn Violence 
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¶4.  (U) Government officials, parliamentarians, political 
societies, religious leaders, and columnists denounced the 
violence in Iraq.  The Cabinet issued a statement February 26 
criticizing both the Samarra bombing and the attacks on Sunni 
mosques and called for Iraqis to act with self-restraint to 
calm the situation.  Interior Minister Shaikh Rashid bin 
Abdulla Al Khalifa February 23 told the press that the 
bombing of the shrine is a "criminal act of incitement" that 
Iraqis should resist.  The elected Council of Representatives 
(COR) called on the Iraqi people, religious scholars, and 
national leaders to remain calm and avoid violence that could 
result in sectarian conflict.  "A unified Iraq is everyone's 
goal and (the bombing) is an obstacle we hope the Iraqis will 
overcome."  Iraqi Ambassador to Bahrain Ghassan Mohsin said 
the attack would not harm national unity or the political 
process in his country.  He lauded the stance and support of 
the Bahraini people. 
 
¶5.  (C) Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa 
told the Ambassador February 26 that the government felt it 
was important for senior religious leaders to step up and 
take public positions against violence and sectarian strife. 
He noted that the GCC foreign ministers had issued a 
statement condemning the violence in Iraq. 
 
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Politicians Denounce Sectarianism 
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¶6.  (U) Both Sunni and Shia political groups have weighed in. 
 President of the Sunni Al Minbar Islamic Society Dr. Salah 
Ali criticized the perpetrators of the bombing, saying they 
want to destroy the unity of the Iraqi people and ruin 
peaceful coexistence of the different sects.  He termed the 
bombing "offensive to Islam and all Muslims."  The COR's Shia 
Islamic bloc slammed the "takfeeri" (jihadist) mentality that 
is at the heart of terrorism.  It called for national unity 
and not allowing Sunnis to suffer for the acts of terrorists. 
 The hardline Shia Haq Movement said actions and words that 
incite sectarianism should be considered criminal acts.  A 
Haq spokesman said his group would soon launch a campaign 
titled, "Together Against Sectarianism and Takfeeri School of 
Thought."  University of Bahrain students are holding a rally 
February 27 to condemn the attack and reject sectarian 
incitement. 
 
¶7.  (U) Other political groups see an American hand in the 
violence.  The secular socialist Al Waad issued a statement 
holding "the occupation forces" responsible for the attack. 
In a joint statement, two Sunni groups, Al Wasat Al Arabi 
Society and the National Democratic Grouping Society, claimed 
the incident was orchestrated by the United States.  The 
statement read, "The enemy is trying to divide the people of 
Iraq... but Iraqis are aware of this conspiracy" and that 
knowledge has brought them closer together. 
 
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Clerics Address Violence 
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¶8.  (U) The Iraq violence was a universal subject in the 
Friday prayer sermons of February 24.  Shia Shaikh Issa 
Qassem said that anyone who claims the right to kill others 
and bomb holy places also gives others the right to do the 
same to him.  He accused the "triangle of pessimism," 
America, Israel, and the jihadists, of carrying out the 
attack.  Shaikh Ali Salman, president of leading Shia 
political society Al Wifaq, said he had received many phone 
calls from Sunni leaders rejecting the attack.  He asserted 
that the main beneficiaries of the situation are "the 
Zionists," regardless of who actually carried out the 
bombing.  Sunni clerics Shaikh Juma Tawfeeq, Shaikh Abdul 
Nasser Al Mahmood, and Shaikh Salah Al Jowder called on 
Muslims to unite against those who seek to divide them.  The 
Shia Jaafari Awqaf Endowment, Sunni Islamic Society, and the 
mixed Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs all issued 
statements denouncing the bombing and calling for unity. 
 
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Columnists Offer Diverse Analyses 
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¶9.  (U) Columnists have interpreted events in various ways. 
Sayed Dhiya Al Mousawi of Al Wasat and Abbas Bu Safwan of Al 
Ayam take the high road, calling for extraordinary efforts to 
help Iraqis get beyond the spasm of violence and to avoid 
spillover into Bahrain.  Al Mousawi says, "We have lived as 
Sunni and Shia in this country for many years and we will 
continue to do so as long as we work together to extinguish 
the sectarian flames that are heading toward us from Iraq. 
We must help Iraq jump over the sectarian hole instead of 
helping it jump into it."  Bu Safwan writes, "Nobody can deny 
the influence of what is happening in Iraq on Bahrain.  I 
call for a national gathering attended by the religious 
leadership that will cut off the division faction and send a 
strong message reaffirming that harming national unity is a 
red line." 
 
¶10.  (U) Sawsan Al Shaer of Al Watan, herself a Sunni, 
criticizes the reaction of her co-religionists, saying, "Now 
you are counting the number of Sunni corpses in Iraq?  Why 
haven't you counted all the corpses that have fallen in Iraq 
for years?  Is it because you have a double standard and you 
were looking at whether they were Sunni or Shia?  Nobody 
denies the self-restraint Shias have shown so far and how 
much wisdom Al Sistani has shown over the years...  We have 
warned you repeatedly from discriminating between the souls 
of the victims...  You can accuse whoever you want but you 
will never be able to erase your fingerprints on the crime of 
incitement in Iraq." 
 
¶11.  (U) The pan-Arabist and Baathist writers lay the blame 
on the United States.  Abdulla Al Ayoobi, Radhi Al Sammak, 
and Mohammed Kadem Al Shehabi, all from Akhbar Al Khaleej, 
say the American occupation created the conditions for the 
bombing and believe that the end of the occupation is the 
only way to salvage Iraq's unity and stability.  Abdul Menem 
Ibrahim, also of Akhbar Al Khaleej, writes that the Gulf 
region is "paying the price of American mistakes in Iraq. 
Since Iraq was torn apart between sects, ethnicities, and 
religions, all we have seen is more extremism and religious 
radicalism.  Whenever the situation in Iraq gets more insane, 
we in Bahrain must get more rational and adhere to our 
national unity." 
 
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Comment 
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¶12.  (C) As the only other Arab state with a Shia majority, 
Bahrain is directly impacted by events in Iraq.  To their 
credit, most officials, politicians, and clerics are calling 
for unity and stability in the face of unprecedented violence 
in Iraq.  However, as has happened in Iraq itself, some blame 
the United States for creating the conditions that led to the 
attacks, a trend we will continue to track. 
 
MONROE