Strong Delegations in Bahrain for IISS Manama Dialogue

3-5 December 2010, the Kingdom of Bahrain

The 7th IISS Regional Security Summit, The Manama Dialogue, will draw together the highest concentration to date of policymakers involved in regional security. The IISS can announce today that among them will be US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who will deliver the Opening Address to the Summit on Friday evening. HM King Abdullah II, King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, will give the Keynote Address on Saturday morning.

Some 25 government delegations will include prime ministers, foreign and defence ministers, chiefs of defence staff, permanent secretaries, military and intelligence chiefs and distinguished delegates from the private sector.

Selected delegation leaders and senior government officials include:

• HRH Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander, Bahrain

• Zalmai Rassoul, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Afghanistan

• Kevin Rudd, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Australia

• Sh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohamed Al Khalifa, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bahrain

• Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway, Canada

• Admiral Edouard Guillaud, Chief of Defence Staff, France

• Christian Schmidt, Parliamentary State Secretary for Defence, Germany

• Manouchehr Mottaki, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Iran

• Dr Barham Saleh, Prime Minister, Kurdistan Regional Government, Iraq

• Hoshyar Zebari, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Iraq

• Hajime Hirota, Parliamentary Secretary of Defense, Japan

• HM King Abdullah II, King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

• Nasser Judeh, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jordan

• Sh Dr Muhammad Al Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kuwait

• Lieutenant General Waheed Arshad Chauhdry, Chief of the General Staff, Pakistan

• Sh Hamad Bin Jassim Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Qatar

• HRH Prince Naef Bin Ahmed Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud , Advisor to HRH the Crown Prince Sultan, Saudi Arabia

• HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Chairman, Board of Directors, King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, Saudi Arabia

• Teo Chee Hean, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Singapore

• Carl Bildt, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sweden

• Professor Dr Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Turkey

• HH Sh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, UAE

• Lieutenant General Hamad Thani Al Romaithi, Chief of Staff, UAE Armed Forces

• Dr Liam Fox, Secretary of State for Defence, UK

• General Sir David Richards, Chief of the Defence Staff, UK

• Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, US

• General James Mattis, Commander, US Central Command

• General Walter Natynczyk, Chief of the Defence Staff, Department of National Defence, US

• Dr Abubakr Al Qirbi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yemen

Additional names will be released in the next few days before the security summit opens on Friday.

The IISS Manama Dialogue is the most important regional security meeting in the Middle East and an excellent anchor for regional security diplomacy. In providing opportunities for government leaders to deliver public statements and facilitating private bilateral and multilateral meetings, the Manama Dialogue has helped to consolidate regional defence policy, improve counter-terrorism cooperation and facilitate the coordination of non-proliferation proposals.

ENDS

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