# Ian Henderson > **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: "Ian Henderson," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ian-henderson/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *The British colonial police officer who ran Bahrain's intelligence service during John Kiriakou's posting there — a man Kiriakou says even the heir presumptive to the throne was afraid to name aloud, and whom Kiriakou, seated at the crown prince's table at a dinner for George H. W. Bush, mistook for a corpse.* - **Role:** Director of the Bahraini intelligence service during Kiriakou's posting - **Background, per Kiriakou:** A British colonialist who put down the Mau Mau rebellion; brought in to build Bahrain an intelligence service - **Kiriakou's characterisation:** "The worst kind of colonial Brit" - **The occasion of the sighting:** A state dinner given by the Emir for George H. W. Bush - **Where Kiriakou sat:** At the crown prince's table, at the crown prince's request - **What Kiriakou asked:** "Who's the corpse over here at this other table?" - **The answer:** "We don't talk about General Henderson" **Ian Henderson** was the British-born director of Bahrain's intelligence service during John Kiriakou's posting to the American embassy there. Kiriakou described him on the DeProgram programme in September 2025, answering a viewer who asked how he could be friendly with the Bahraini royal family while the security service treated him badly.[1] ## Who he was Kiriakou introduces him by title and repeats the name for emphasis: *"When I was in Bahrain, the director of the Bahraini intelligence service was named General Ian Henderson. General Ian Henderson, who was the British colonialist who put down the Mau Mau rebellion."*[1] In Kiriakou's account Henderson had spent his colonial career keeping a Black African population from power *"until he just had to flee"*, and was then recruited: he *"went to Bahrain and they said, 'Hey, can you set up an intelligence service for us?'"*[2] His assessment of the man is unqualified: *"he was the worst kind of colonial Brit, to the point where even the Bahrainis were afraid of him."*[2] ## The dinner The illustration is a state occasion. *"George H. W. Bush came to Bahrain when I was there and the Emir had a gigantic dinner for him. So the crown prince asked that I be seated at his table."*[2][3] Kiriakou notes his own age and inexperience: *"I was young at the time. How old was I when I went to Bahrain? I was 29."*[3] His question was flippant. *"We're laughing and joking and I said, 'Who's the corpse over here at this other table?'"* The crown prince's response — *"Seriously?"* — did not stop him, and he elaborated on the figure he had seen: *"this 80-year-old man literally wearing a brown leisure suit, with the loud flower shirt underneath and the big wide collar with the wide lapels from the 70s ... Who's the stiff?"*[3][4] ## The answer The reply identified him: *"That's General Henderson."* Kiriakou repeated the name back — *"That's Ian Henderson"* — and added *"he looks like he crawled right out of the 70s."*[4] The conversation then closed. *"He's like, 'Yeah, you know what? We don't talk about General Henderson.'"*[4] Kiriakou's point is the identity of the man declining to discuss him. His dinner companion was *"the heir presumptive, because his grandfather was the Emir and his father was the crown prince"* — since elevated to crown prince himself — and even he *"was afraid of Ian Henderson to the point where he didn't even want to speak the man's name."*[4][5] ## The relationship since The friendship Kiriakou describes has outlasted the posting and his own imprisonment: *"The crown prince and I still text each other jokes and stuff. I just heard from him on Saturday, as a matter of fact."*[1] ## See also - [Bahrain Posting (1994–1996)](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/bahrain-1994-1996-posting) - [The bug in the bedroom](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-bug-in-the-bedroom) - [The Russian soldier in Manama](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-russian-soldier-in-manama) - [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) ## Sources 1. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-04), at 34:29. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IPfeItwnb4&t=2069s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-04-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 2. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-04), at 35:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IPfeItwnb4&t=2100s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-04-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 3. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-04), at 35:32. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IPfeItwnb4&t=2132s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-04-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 4. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-04), at 36:03. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IPfeItwnb4&t=2163s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-04-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 5. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-04), at 36:34. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IPfeItwnb4&t=2194s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-04-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ian-henderson/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt