Bahrain ousts U.S. official under secret Saudi pressure

WASHINGTON – Bahrain's recent expulsion of a U.S. State Department official after visiting with a Shiite opposition leader was the result of pressure from Saudi Arabia, indicating relations between the U.S. and Riyadh are further deteriorating.

Bahrain declared U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Tom Malinowski persona non grata, or "no longer welcome," after he had met with the leader of the country's largest Shiite group, Al Wefaq.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has protested to the Bahraini government over Malinowski's expulsion. Kerry also decried "unacceptable demands" by Bahraini officials that its foreign ministry personnel attend private meetings, including at the U.S. Embassy in Manama.

The Bahraini government, in turn, filed charges against the opposition members for meeting with Malinowski.

Bahraini authorities charged cleric Ali Salman, who heads Al-Wefaq, and his assistant, ex-Member of Parliament Khalil Marzouq, with making contact with a representative of a foreign government contrary to Bahrain's law on political associations, according to the Bahraini prosecutor.

In addressing the seriousness of the event, the State Department in a statement said Kerry "underscored that our actions should be consistent with our strong bilateral relationship" and that both sides need to "recommit to the reconciliation process."

The majority of the Bahraini population is Shiite, while the kingdom is governed by the Sunni monarchy of Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifah.

The regime has been the subject of Shia demonstrations since the beginning of the Arab Spring in 2011 over claims of discrimination and arbitrary arrests. Demonstrations became so violent that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates sent in troops to maintain order. The troops remain.

The Sunni monarchies of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have accused the Shiite cleric leadership of Iran of fomenting trouble among the Shiites in Bahrain in an effort to extend its own influence on the island nation.

Bahrain is located between Iran and Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf. It is a strong ally of Washington and hosts the headquarters of the U.S. 5th Fleet.

The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet is responsible for naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean.

U.S. officials say the meeting between Walinowski and Al Wefaq had been arranged with Bahraini authorities prior to Walinowski's arrival. There reportedly was no objection until a Bahraini official from the Interior Ministry spoke up during the discussions about the meeting.

The event caught everyone by surprise, including Walinowski. Bahraini officials said the assistant secretary, visiting the country on official business, had violated diplomatic protocol, without further explanation.

Sources say that due to good U.S.-Bahraini relations and the fact that the 5th Fleet is stationed there, Bahrain didn't raise objections on its own and likely did it at the behest of what a source said was Bahrain's "patron in the region," Saudi Arabia.

Given the security umbrella the Sunni Saudi kingdom has placed over Bahrain so close to Shiite Iran, sources believe Manama acted in response to Saudi pressure.

Since that appears to be the case, the event demonstrates the extent that relations between the U.S. and the Saudi kingdom have deteriorated just in the past year.

The Saudis have been peeved with the U.S. ever since the Obama administration failed to support ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who was close to the Saudis.

The royals also fumed over Washington's lack of action toward Syria in pushing for regime change to oust Iranian-ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is a Shiite-Alawite.

This has led Riyadh to conclude that the Americans no longer can be trusted on Middle East matters, especially in relations involving Iran.

The U.S. has been engaged in months of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear development program, which the West believes is a cover to make nuclear weapons. The talks have adjourned for now but could resume in a few months.

The developments prompted the Saudis to decide it would strike out on its own to maintain Sunni influence without coordination with Washington, since Riyadh has concluded it no longer wants the U.S. to exercise its balance-of-power policy.

The Saudis also are concerned with Iran's influence being extended to its Shiite allies, which include Syria, Lebanon and the Shiite government of Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki, who faces the Sunni uprising from the jihadist group Islamic State.

The al-Qaida splinter group, IS, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, has received some of its funding from the Saudis.

Since the Arab Spring, Saudi Arabia which is the mainstay of Sunni Muslims, has been waging a proxy war with Shiite Iran in various locations, including Bahrain, Syria, Yemen and Iraq. Riyadh is concerned that Iran will further extend its influence into the Gulf Arab countries, as has recently happened in Oman and Qatar.