British Think-tank Received £25m from Bahraini Royals
Local Editor
A British think-tank that bills itself as a global authority on military and diplomatic affairs has been accused of jeopardizing its independence after leaked documents showed it has secretly received £25m from the Bahraini royal family, which has been criticized for its poor human rights record.
Confidential documents seen by the Guardian showed that the country's repressive rulers donated the sum to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies [IISS] over the last five years.
The documents also revealed that IISS and the Bahraini royals agreed to "take all necessary steps" to keep most of the donations secret. The Bahrain donations make up more than a quarter of IISS's income.
The disclosure came as Theresa May, the British PM, is on a two-day visit to Bahrain to discuss post-Brexit trade with Gulf leaders.
Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, is due to give a speech in Bahrain's capital, Manama, on Friday at a conference organized by IISS and paid for by Bahrain's ruling family. The royals are footing the bill for all delegates to stay in villas at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
The confidential documents have been obtained by Bahrain Watch, an independent organization that seeks to promote democracy and social justice in the country. The group believes the secret donations undermine the independence of IISS, which says it is a non-partisan organization that provides objective information about the world's security issues. IISS has rejected the accusation.
The documents further revealed that IISS and Bahrain's rulers specifically agreed to keep the latter's funding for the Manama Dialogues secret. This amounts to £14.9m since 2011, the papers showed.
Bahrain's foreign minister and John Chipman, the director-general of IISS, agreed that they "shall not disclose the contents of this memorandum of understanding or any related information to any third party unless the written consent of the other party has been obtained and both parties shall take all necessary steps to keep confidential all classified information which is disclosed or obtained in relation to this MoU, and neither shall divulge such information to any third party."
The Khalifa dynasty, which has ruled Bahrain since it gained independence from Britain in 1971 has been castigated by campaigners for presiding over deteriorating human rights.
During May's visit to the country campaigners again highlighted the Bahraini state's crackdowns on journalists and pro-democracy activists.
The campaigners criticized Bahrain's rulers for dissolving the main political party, jailing and torturing activists, and persecuting opposition supporters and clerics.
A burgeoning pro-democracy movement was brutally suppressed in 2011. In September that year the Bahraini royal family signed the secret agreement to fund the Manama Dialogue, which IISS had been holding in the country for a decade.
Source: The Guardian, Edited by website team
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