By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
Manama: US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley will use the Manama Dialogue 2006 this month to make a key statement on the US security strategy in the Arabian Gulf, organisers of the event have said.
The major regional security meeting is organised by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) at a time when the Bush administration is trying to bring GCC and Arab countries into a new security alliance to contain Iran's growing influence and stem any spillover of violence from Iraq.
Representatives of Bahrain, the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia alarmed by Iraq's violent civil war and Iran's resurgence shared their concerns in Amman yesterday with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The Manama Dialogue will be another opportunity to discuss strategies in the region, particularly after King Abdullah of Jordan warned that it could soon face three civil wars in Iraq, Lebanon and among Palestinians.
The meeting will be opened on December 8 by Bahrain's Crown Prince Shaikh Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa who will deliver the keynote address, the IISS said.
Iran's ambassador to Bahrain, Mohammad Farazmand, previously told Gulf News that Tehran would attend the meeting, but could not give the name of the head of the delegation.
Bahrain will impose a ban on alcohol, discos and live entertainment in residential areas of the kingdom next year, a paper reported on Thursday.
Bahrain is one of the more liberal states in the Gulf region, but Islamists have been promoting their views since winning a foothold in parliament in 2002.
"Hotels and restaurants in residential areas, near mosques or schools will be banned from selling alcohol and operating discos," the Gulf Daily News reported, quoting documents from the Information Ministry's tourism affairs department.
The ban on alcohol would take effect from May and on entertainment from March. Government officials were not immediately available for comment.
