Published: December 14, 2009
6th IISS Manama Dialogue Successfully Concludes with Major Policy Addresses
Preparations commence for new bilateral relations
The 6th IISS Regional Security Summit, The Manama Dialogue successfully concluded on Sunday, 13 December 2009 after three days of inspiring and engaging policy addresses and bilateral meetings between senior government, parliamentary, and other distinguished delegates. The summit was attended by over 300 delegates and 25 government delegations, including Iran who attended at the ministerial level for the first time since 2006.
On Friday, 12 December, Al Arabiya hosted a provocative TV debate 'Perspectives From The Manama Dialogue' featuring: Sh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bahrain; Ali Muhammad Al Anisi, Chairman of the National Security Agency and Head of the Presidential Office of Yemen; Jeffrey Feltman, Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs at the US Department of State; and Dr Mamoun Fandy, IISS Senior Fellow for Gulf Security and Corresponding Director of the IISS-Middle East.
The panellists discussed security and foreign policy themes-including the Houthis in Yemen, Iran's nuclear ambitions, and progress in Iraq - for the Dialogue, as well as interacted with the audience. Clips from the debate will run on Friday evening, 2000hrs GMT, 18 December 2009 on Al Arabiya and Bahrain TV.
In order of appearance, speakers in the Plenary Sessions included: Manouchehr Mottaki, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iran; Sh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohamed Al Khalifa, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain; Hoshyar Zebari, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq; Vecdi Gönül, Minister of Defence of Turkey; M K Narayanan, National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of India; Kazuya Shinba, Senior Vice Minister for Defence of Japan; Masoom Stanekzai, Advisor to the President on Home Security of Afghanistan, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan; Christian Schmidt, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Defence of Germany; Ali Muhammad Al Anisi, Chairman of the National Security Agency and Head of the Presidential Office of Yemen; General David Petraeus, Commander of US Central Command; and Dr Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar, Advisor to HM the King on Diplomatic Affairs and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Bahrain Centre for Strategic International and Energy Studies.
In addition to saturating Bahrain with senior ministers and new bilateral relations, the Manama Dialogue also transcended into social networking sites as Sh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohamed Al Khalifa and Lara Setrekian (ABC News) tweeted on Twitter, among others.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies: www.iiss.org
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