Khalid stirs a hornets' nest with caucus plan

When Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, the affable Bahraini Foreign Minister, called on Middle Eastern countries to set up a new regional organisation that includes all Arab states as well as Israel, Iran and Turkey, many were surprised. What is the significance of this highly unusual call?

Shaikh Khalid is a seasoned diplomat with considerable experience. Speaking on the heels of the latest United Nations (UN) annual General Assembly meeting, the Bahraini official made a questionable comparison, believing that all member-states were equal.

"Why not [come together] on a regional basis ... to solve our problems," affirmed the minister, believing that there was "no other way to solve them, now or in 200 years."

In a follow-up interview with the London-based daily newspaper Al Hayat a day after his appearance in New York, he asked: "Why don't we all sit together even if we have differences and even if we don't recognise each other? ... Why not become one organisation?"

Like Qatar, Bahrain has discreet informal links with Israel, and except for Egypt, Jordan, and Mauritania, Manama sided with the Arab majority not to establish relations with Israel until the latter signed meaningful peace agreements with the Palestinians.

In fact, Bahrain approved the League's 2002 Beirut Summit proposal, to "normalise" relations in a comprehensive effort, if Israel agreed to withdraw to the 1967 borders.

Tension reducer

Because Shaikh Khalid probably knows better than most that Iran, which backs Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian territories, will eventually face the Jewish State's opprobrium - on account of its nuclear ambitions - his floater was probably meant as a tension reducer.

Bahrain may have been testing the waters, perhaps to reduce tensions between the US and Iran, as well as diminish rising Sunni-Shiite sectarianism.

Or that Bahrain was positioning itself as an interlocutor with the next American Administration, where Jewish-American officials will almost certainly regain some of their lost influence.

It was within such a context that Manama appointed a Jewish diplomat as its Ambassador to Washington a few weeks ago. Likewise, the monarch met Bahraini Jews living in Britain on his most recent visit to London.

For his part, Heir Apparent Shaikh Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa met Israeli officials during World Economic Forum summits in both 2000 and 2003, while Shaikh Khalid met his Israeli counterpart, and Prime Minister designate, Tzipi Livni, at the UN in 2007.

Not surprisingly, Bahraini lawmakers and opposition activists voiced their displeasure with Shaikh Khalid, with Islamic National Accord Association [Al Wefaq-Shiite] parliamentarian Jalal Fairuz insisting that "the minister should revoke his remarks." "If he doesn't," warned Fairuz, "he will have to answer members of Parliament."

For Nasser Al Fadala, a Muslim Brotherhood deputy who clashed with Shaikh Khalid after the latter shook hands with Livni last year, the latest proposal served "US plans to integrate Israel in the region," whereas for Ebrahim Al Sharif, secretary-general of the National Democratic Action Association, an opposition alliance of leftists and pan-Arab nationalists, "the minister must make clear if his remarks represent official policy or are a personal view."

In an official statement issued by the Bahrain Society for Anti-Normalisation with the Zionist Enemy, "the formation of a regional organisation that includes the Zionist entity is in fact an implementation of the US plans to support Israel in the Arab world and is part of the so-called Greater Middle East which seeks to integrate the Zionists in the region."

Heavy criticism

Even if the heavy criticism was anticipated, the full rejection was not. Naturally, a flabbergasted Shaikh Khalid rejected allegations that his call implied abandoning legitimate Arab rights or giving up the Palestinian cause, but he could not prevent the accelerating stampede.

While Bahrain may have thought that Arabs should not remain passive, but must take the initiative to address their own crucial issues, the Foreign Minister should have noted that offering alternative suggestions to best defend intrinsic rights seldom succeeded when they were made solo.

The Bahraini proposal may have violated the League's unanimous 2002 Beirut Summit initiative. Far worse, the floater was another illustration of how small States were often manipulated by outside forces.

Israel, Turkey and Iran are Middle Eastern states and, to my knowledge, no Arab government is denying their existence. It would be better, however, if these countries earned Arab trust by adopting friendlier attitudes.

Dr Joseph A. Kechichian is a commentator and author of several books on Gulf affairs.