Untitled - orsam

The publication of the reports could be potentially damaging, particularly that most Arab
leaders favour private and quiet diplomacy.
Tweeting his view, Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, Bahrain's foreign minister, said
that the Wikileaks had "weakened diplomacy in general and US diplomacy in particular."
"This is not good for global stability. We need more diplomacy," he said, before adding in
a light afterthought "the American ambassador just sent me an email labelled
'UNCLASSIFIED'..."
In Kuwait, US ambassador Deborah Jones published a letter in which she regretted the
leak of private conversations and stressed the significance of relations and cooperation
between her country and Kuwait.
Kuwaiti news portal Al Aan reported the envoy as saying that diplomatic cables did not
necessarily always reflect the US official foreign policy.
Observers insist the incident is not likely to affect relations between the Arab countries
and the US or with Iran.
"It is somewhat ugly, but will not affect relations," a Bahraini analyst, speaking on
condition of anonymity, said. "Relations are really robust and do not get affected by such
things. However, Arabs are likely to wonder how private their private conversations and
idea exchanges with the Americans will be," he said.
Hours after the world read the comments of several Arab leaders and their behind-doors
attitudes towards sensitive issues, no country in the Arab world made an official
statement.
"We should not expect a reaction, particularly in the Gulf where leaders and officials are
used to dealing discreetly with issues," Sulayman Nimr, the head of a Gulf think tank, said
in comments to a French television. "While the leak will not have an impact on the long
standing and continuous relations between the US and the Gulf, the Gulf countries will
Sayfa 60