European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 5, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Bahrain Island Sheik Dom with a saudi lifeline by Joy Aschenbach National geographic like a lifeline to the arabian Mainland the King fahd causeway snakes across 15 Miles of Emerald sea to link the Arab worlds Only Island nation Bahrain with its ancestral realm. Opening barely four years ago the four Lane causeway was built by saudi Arabia at a Cost of nearly $1 billion. Among the most expensive stretches of Roadway in the world it is an engineering Marvel. A series of Bridge spans and Man made islands ties Bahrain to saudi Arabia s persian Gulf coast near Dhahran. The saudi air Force base at Dhahran serves As a command Center for current . Troop deployment in the Region. This Concrete connection to saudi Arabia Quot has been a turning Point in our history Quot says Khalid Al Khalifa of the bahraini embassy in Washington. The causeway is a Boon to the islands Economy and has strengthened its Security. The tiny Sheik Dom a about four times the size of Washington d.c., with about half a million people a is one Arab Oil state that is used to being Host to american forces. For More than 40 years Bahrain has been the site of the Only permanent . Military facility on the persian Gulf. Quot historically the Lasalle flagship of the . Gulf Fleet has been based in Bahrain. This continued throughout the Iran Iraq War and it continues today Quot says Barry Rubin of the Washington Institute for near East policy. In recent years the . Installation near Bahrain a capital Manama has been a Low profile Navy Supply and communications facility. Culturally the King fahd causeway links saudi Arabia s strict islamic traditions with Bahrain s easygoing More cosmopolitan atmosphere where women walk in Public. Unveiled drive cars and often Wear Western dress. Alcohol nightclubs uncensored foreign publications and video tapes Are readily available. One wednesday nights the Start of the Quot desert weekend Quot the causeway is jammed with Bahrain bound saudis seeking the pleasures of their offshore neighbor. Hotels Are booked solid with saudis. Quot it s a one Way Bridge in a sense Quot says National geographic photographer Steve Raymer. The Roadway lures bahrainis too who head for lower priced shopping in saudi stores. But since iraqis invasion of Kuwait aug. 2, traffic has been Light. Quot people Are not in the mood to travel Back and Forth Quot says a bahraini business Leader. Quot there a uncertainty. No one really knows what s happening. Bahrain has been Quot a pleasant and stable society like Bermuda Quot he says. Quot we think for ourselves. We Don t have the Oil mentality because we re not a giant  Independent since 1971, Bahrain is a former British protectorate that enjoys an enviable living Standard. Living by their wits bahrainis have kept on the move economically a from pearls to Petroleum to diversified industries. When Bahrain s oldest Industry Pearl diving collapsed the Sheik Dom switched to Oil . Prospectors brought in arabians first Oil Well there in 1932, and Bahrain built a a f w i in 4 National geographic at a Man made Island along the 15-mlle causeway connecting the Island nation of Bahrain with die persian Gulf coast of saudi Arabia officials handle customs and other Border matters. Worry beads Click along with the computer keyboards in the hectic currency and securities trading room of a Bahrain Bank. The first refinery on the Gulf. Quot when its Oil resources were dwindling by the 1970s Bahrain was the first to diversify Quot says John Duke Anthony president of the National Council on .-Arab relations. It successfully expanded into refining Oil most of it piped in from saudi Arabi producing Gas smelting aluminium repairing supertanker and enticing billion Dollar banking operations. Bahrain a Liberal banking policies have attracted a prosperous financial Community in the past two decades. At least 150 financial institutions some of which fled War shattered Beirut Lebanon in the 1970s, Are doing business there. Gulf International Bank s trading room is among the largest on the Gulf. Quot because of Bahrain s geographical position it can play All the major markets in one Day Quot says Anthony. It lies in just the right time zone for International trading. But traders work 12-hour Days beginning before the Tokyo and Singapore markets close and not stopping until after new York opens. During the 1987 Wall Street crash some traders stayed at their computer screens for 48 hours non Stop. Quot i wore out three strings of worry beads Quot one Bank executive recalls. Bahrain a financial pre Eminence As Quot the Beirut of the Gulf Quot was bolstered by its position As a sophisticated telecommunications Hub. But today some capital is fleeing Bahrain because of the iraqi invasion a and some leaders worry that the Money May never come Back. For More than 200years, Bahrain has been ruled by members of the at Khalifa family immigrants from Arabia. They Are sunni moslem but a majority of bahrainis embrace the shiite Branch of islam Iran s predominant religion. Bahrain was once occupied by Persia for nearly two centuries. Modem Iran formally relinquished its claims in 1970, but iranian religious leaders have occasionally reasserted them. Page 16 a the stars and stripes Friday october 5,1990