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State Department cables detail U.S. links to Bahrain
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 21, 2011; 5:06 PM
It's not surprising that the White House worked with Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa to end the crackdown on protesters and to hold talks with the country's mainly Shiite-led opposition movement after reading classified State Department cables released last week by Wikileaks.
A graduate of a U.S. Defense Department high school in Bahrain and American University here in Washington, the crown prince was described in a December 2009 cable from the U.S. Embassy in Manama as "very Western in his approach and . . . closely identified with the reformist camp within the ruling family."
There is irony in his dealing with one of the protesters' demands: obtain the resignation of Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa, who has held that post for 40 years and is, in effect, the head of government. According to the same 2009 cable, the crown prince's father, King Hamad, already had been "gradually shifting power . . . to his son" from the powerful prime minister. With echoes of Shakespeare, the prime minister is the king's uncle and the crown prince's great-uncle.
An earlier cable from the U.S. Embassy hints that a 2008 lawsuit filed by a Bahrain aluminum company against the U.S. corporation Alcoa was approved by the crown prince. It alleges that bribes were paid to Bahrain government officials.
"Many in Bahrain view the lawsuit as another attempt by the Crown Prince to score more points against his uncle the Prime Minister," reads the cable. The lawsuit has been delayed while a criminal investigation proceeds, according to news reports.`
The cables released by Wikileaks also show that U.S. military, intelligence and diplomatic relationships with Bahrain run much deeper than the presence of 5th Fleet headquarters and the Naval Support Activity base, which also serves as home for other American units.
