# Bahrain Prime Minister "Mr. 10 Percent"

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Bahrain Prime Minister "Mr. 10 Percent"," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/bahrain-prime-minister-mr-10-percent/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*John Kiriakou's account of Bahrain's long-serving prime minister, the Amir's uncle, universally nicknamed "Mr. 10 Percent" for allegedly requiring a 10 percent cash cut on business deals, a cold, calculating figure Kiriakou calls "the definition of corruption," pointedly excluded from the national motto, yet credited with turning Bahrain into the Gulf's banking hub.*

- **Relation:** Uncle of Amir Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa
- **Nickname:** "Mr. 10 Percent", for an alleged 10% cash cut on business deals
- **Kiriakou's characterization:** "Cold, mean, cunning, calculating and very, very difficult... the definition of corruption"
- **Legacy:** Credited by Kiriakou with making Bahrain the Gulf's banking center after banks fled Beirut

**Bahrain's longtime prime minister**, uncle of Amir [Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/isa-bin-salman-al-khalifa), was widely nicknamed *"Mr. 10 Percent"*, per [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou), for allegedly requiring a 10 percent cash cut on business deals done in the country: *"You want to do business in Bahrain, 10 percent in cash in the Prime Minister's pocket."*[1]

## A cold reception

Kiriakou says the prime minister disliked him intensely, having learned Kiriakou had interviewed Shia uprising leader Abdul Amir Al-Jamri and his family for a human rights report. During a chance encounter in an elevator at Bahrain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the prime minister singled Kiriakou out in the receiving line, refusing to release his handshake while remarking pointedly, *"You've been very busy in our little country."*[1]

## "The definition of corruption"

Kiriakou characterizes him as cold, mean, cunning, calculating, and *"the definition of corruption,"* while nonetheless crediting him with running the country during the period it became the banking center of the Middle East, after banks fled Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War.[2]

Bahrain's national motto, painted on water towers across the country, was *"Allah, al-Watan, wal-Amir"*, "God, the nation, and the Emir", explicitly omitting the prime minister, reflecting his sidelined status in the succession: the Amir's son, Crown Prince Hamad, and then Hamad's son, Salman, were destined to inherit power, not the prime minister's line.[3]

## See also

- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)
- [Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/isa-bin-salman-al-khalifa)
- [Bahrain Posting (1994–1996)](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/bahrain-1994-1996-posting)
- [Bahrain Intifada (1994)](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/bahrain-intifada-1994)

## Sources

1. S1E5 Singin' In Bahrain (2025-11-24), at 22:15. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/69224fd4e842b164ee8d9071/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-24-dead-drop-s1e5-singin-in-bahrain/
2. S1E5 Singin' In Bahrain (2025-11-24), at 29:45. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/69224fd4e842b164ee8d9071/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-24-dead-drop-s1e5-singin-in-bahrain/
3. S1E5 Singin' In Bahrain (2025-11-24), at 30:19. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/69224fd4e842b164ee8d9071/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-24-dead-drop-s1e5-singin-in-bahrain/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/bahrain-prime-minister-mr-10-percent/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt