Campaigners lose battle to release cable detailing historic UK relations with Bahrain

‘Human rights activists have lost their court battle to force the Government to release a 38-year-old diplomatic cable that could shed light on Britain’s relationship with the authoritarian regime in Bahrain. The ruling came as the king of the Gulf state came to Britain this weekend to attend the prestigious Royal Windsor Horse Show, a sign of continuing warm relations between the UK and Bahrain, where the Royal Navy is building a major new military base.

In a ruling that disappointed campaigners, an information tribunal has ruled that there should be only a partial disclosure of the contents of the cable from 1977, detailing conversations between British officials and Ian Henderson, a British military officer who ran the police in the Gulf state for 30 years and was dubbed the “Butcher of Bahrain”.’

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