MIDDLE EAST AFRICA SOUTH ASIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00865A002100070001-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 23, 2001
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: November 4, 1975
• Content Type: NOTES

Approved For Release 2001/08/08 : CIA-RDP79T00865A002100781ecret
105-UkT~ HO
Middle East
Africa
South Asia
Handle via CO1MINT Channels
Top Secret
SC No. 0836b/75
November. 4, 1975
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NOFORN/NO CONTRA CT/USIB ONLY/ORCON
Warning Notice
Sensitive Intelligence Sources and Methods Involved
(WNINTEL)
NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION
Unauthorized Disclosure Subject to Criminal Sanctions
DISSEMINATION CONTROL ABBREVIATIONS
NOFORN- Not Releasable to Foreign Nationals
NOCONTRACT- Not Releasable to Contractors or
Contractor/Consultants
PROPIN- Caution-Proprietary Information Involved
USIBONLY- USIB Departments Only
ORCON? Dissemination and Extraction of Information
Controlled by Originator
REL... - This Information has been Authorized for
Release to ...
Classified by 010725
Exempt from general declassification schedule
of E.O. 11652, exemption category:
858(1), (2), and (3)
Automatically declassified on:
Date Impossible to Determine
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MIDDLE EAST - AFRICA - SOUTH ASIA
This publication is prepared for regional specialists in the Washington com-
munity by the Middle East - Africa Division, Office of Current Intelligence,
with occasional contributions from other offices within the Directorate of
Intelligence. Comments and queries are welcome. They should be directed to
the authors of the individual articles.
Bahrain: Government Regulations Encounter
Resistance . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Nov 4, 1.975
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Bahrain
Government Regulations Encounter Resistance
The Bahraini government, which has recently
undertaken steps to regulate the prices of some
essential consumer goods and services, is meeting
resistance from businessmen on the Persian Gulf
island. Merchants apparently complied with the
price controls for about a week, but the regulated
goods have since been pulled off the shelves. Last
week, taxi drivers went on a two-day strike protesting
the profit margin allowed them under the new regul-
ations.
Emir Isa's government has not reacted yet to
the quiet challenge, according to the US embassy
in Manama. But with the government's credibility
on bread-and-butter issues at stake, the embassy
believes it will be difficult for Manama to back
away from the issue.
When the Khalifas, Bahrain's ruling family,
abolished the National Assembly last August,
they blamed the "uncooperative" legislature for
previous inaction and promised that quick and
effective measures would be taken to deal with
the island country's severe housing shortage and
rapidly rising cost of living. According to a
recent, government-sponsored survey, the average
Bahraini family spends 46 percent of its income
on food.
The Khalif as' regime is likely to face future
political trouble if it does not make credible pro-
gress in solving economic problems. Bahrain's
unorganized, but growing industrial work force--the
Khalifas have been stalling an demands to allow
labor unions--and the island's sophisticated middle
class could become so frustrated by economic woes as to
be receptive to radical efforts to mobilize public
opinion against the government. (CONFIDENTIAL)
Nov 4, 1975
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Top Secret
Top Secret
Approved For Release 2001/08/08 : CIA-RDP79T00865AO02100070001-2