SHAYKH AL-KUBAYSI "MODERATES" TONE WITH LOCAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 003265

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/NGA; NEA/PPD, NEA/RA,
INR/R/MR, PA, INR/NESA, INR/B AND IIP/G/NEA-SA
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA

REF: A. KUWAIT 1482; B. ABU DHABI 1461; C. ABU
DHABI 2013; D. ABU DHABI 2654

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC
SUBJECT: SHAYKH AL-KUBAYSI "MODERATES" TONE WITH LOCAL
ARAB MEDIA


1. SUMMARY AND COMMENT: ON JULY 3-4, ABU DHABI'S
ARABIC LANGUAGE DAILY "AL ITTIHAD" PUBLISHED A TWO-PART
INTERVIEW WITH ISLAMIC MUFTI DR. AHMAD AL-KUBAYSI. PER
REFTELS, AL-KUBAYSI HAD CRITICIZED THE U.S.-LED WAR AND
AUTHORITY IN IRAQ SEVERELY DURING PREVIOUS PUBLIC
APPEARANCES. MOST NOTABLE WAS HIS APRIL 18TH FRIDAY
SERMON AT BAGHDAD'S ABU HANIFA AL-NO'MAN MOSQUE
FOLLOWING THE FALL OF SADDAM'S REGIME, A SERMON IN WHICH
AL-KUBAYSI ENCOURAGED WORSHIPPERS TO RESIST THE AMERICAN
"OCCUPATION" OF IRAQ AND DEMONSTRATE.


2. IN THIS INTERVIEW, UNLIKE HIS EARLIER RHETORIC, AL-
KUBAYSI COUNSELED IRAQIS TO "GIVE THE AMERICANS A
CHANCE" TO "ESTABLISH A NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT AND
REBUILD IRAQ." KUBAYSI ASSERTED THAT ANY IRAQI
GOVERNMENT MUST BE SECULAR IN NATURE AND THE "SUBJECT OF
A PUBLIC REFERENDUM SO THAT IRAQIS CAN DECIDE THEIR
FUTURE." WHILE STILL CRITICAL OF U.S. MOTIVES FOR IRAQ,
THE INTERVIEW IS A WELCOME SHIFT FOR THIS PROMINENT YET
FIERY RELIGIOUS LEADER, AN INDIVIDUAL MANY BELIEVE HAS
THE ABILITY TO SHAPE LOCAL AND REGIONAL VIEWS ON THE
EMERGING IRAQ. END SUMMARY AND COMMENT.

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HAPPY TO BE BACK IN IRAQ
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3. ON JULY 3 AND 4, ABU DHABI-BASED SEMI-OFFICIAL
ARABIC DAILY "AL-ITTIHAD" RAN AN INTERVIEW IN TWO PARTS,
FULL-PAGE EACH DAY, WITH PROMINENT ISLAMIC MUFTI DR.
AHMAD AL-KUBAYSI. IN SHARP CONTRAST TO PREVIOUS
STATEMENTS (SEE REFTELS),AL-KUBAYSI, WHO HAS BASED
HIMSELF IN THE UAE FOR SEVERAL YEARS, URGED IRAQIS TO
PARTICIPATE IN THE REBUILDING PROCESS. CLAIMING HE HAS
"NO POLITICAL AMBITIONS," HE EXPRESSED HIS GRATITUDE TO
RESUME A ROLE IN THE RELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP OF IRAQ, TO
WHICH HE HAD NOT RETURNED SINCE A 1997 DISPUTE WITH UDAY
HUSSEIN LEFT HIM WANTED "DEAD OR ALIVE."

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ANGRY AND OCCUPIED BUT PATIENCE COUNSELED
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4. ON JULY 3, AL-KUBAYSI EXPLAINED HIS HARSH ANTI-
AMERICAN SERMON OF APRIL 18TH AT BAGHDAD'S ABU HANIFA AL-
NO'MAN MOSQUE: "I WAS EXTREMELY INFLUENCED BY WHAT I
SAW .. THERE WAS SYSTEMATIC DESTRUCTION, OUR TREASURES
WERE ROBBED, AND OUR SECURITY WAS LOST. WHAT WOULD
SOMEONE LIKE ME DO AFTER MANY YEARS AWAY FROM IRAQ?"
DESPITE THESE EMOTIONS," AL-KUBAYSI RECOUNTED THAT
"EVERYONE WANTED TO RESIST ... BUT WE WERE PERSUADED
THAT WE HAD LOST AND WERE NOW OCCUPIED. THE AMERICANS
ARE THE MASTERS AND WE ARE THE SLAVES ... WE AGREED THAT
WHAT WE LOST IN THE WAR WE NEED TO REGAIN THROUGH PEACE
AND WE SHOULD GIVE THE AMERICANS A CHANCE TO DO AS THEY
PROMISED ... WE DECIDED TO WAIT UNTIL THEY ESTABLISHED A
NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT AND REBUILD IRAQ DESPITE THEIR
AMBITIONS ON OUR OIL ..." HOWEVER, AL-KUBAYSI ASSERTED
THAT THE AMERICANS COULD DO MORE NOW TO IMPROVE THEIR
IMAGE AMONG IRAQIS: "THE AMERICANS HUMILIATE PEOPLE
WHEN THEY ARREST THEM, AND THESE PEOPLE ARE UNIVERSITY
PROFESSORS, TRIBAL LEADERS AND RELIGIOUS ULAMAS."




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STRONG SECULAR GOVERNMENT OF ALL GROUPS BEST FOR IRAQ
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5. ON JULY 4, AL-KUBAYSI SUPPORTED CREATING A
GOVERNMENT WITH STRONG INSTITUTIONS REPRESENTATIVE OF
ALL IRAQIS: "DEMANDING AN ISLAMIC GOVERNMENT IN IRAQ IS
IMPOSSIBLE, BECAUSE RELIGION IS THE LAST UMBRELLA THAT
WILL BRING IRAQIS TOGETHER. I AM NOT FOR A SECULAR OR
ISLAMIC GOVERNMENT. I WANT AN IRAQI GOVERNMENT WITH
STRONG INSTITUTIONS THAT IS BACKED BY ALL OF ITS PEOPLE,
MUSLIMS, CHRISTIANS, SHI'AS, AND SUNNIS. AFTER, THEN WE
ASK THE IRAQIS WHAT THEY WANT. WE HAVE TO BE REALISTIC
... IRAQ CONTAINS VARIOUS SECTS AND ETHNIC GROUPS."

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SUPPORTIVE OF RETURN OF CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY
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6. AT THE SAME TIME, AL-KUBAYSI VOICED SUPPORT FOR THE
RETURN OF A CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY, CLAIMING THAT
"THERE IS A STRONG TENDENCY OF IRAQIS TO WELCOME THE
RETURN OF A CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY, IT BEING THE MOST
QUALIFIED SYSTEM TO MAINTAIN IRAQI UNITY ... OUR ONLY
TIME OF PROSPERITY WAS DURING THE MONARCHY. THE
CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL BECAUSE THE
KING DID NOT RULE, AND THE GOVERNMENT USED TO BE CHAIRED
BY THE SHI'ITES, KURDS, AND SUNNIS WITHOUT ANY
COMPLICATIONS OR COUPS. I SUPPORT THE REESTABLISHMENT
OF THE MONARCHY, FOR IT WOULD PREVENT ANY SECTARIAN
SPLIT IN IRAQ." AL-KUBAYSI ALSO SPECULATED THAT "THE
FAMILIES LIKELY TO REGAIN THE IRAQI THRONE ARE THE
HASHEMITES, THE SHAMMAR TRIBE, AND THE JILANI FAMILY"
BUT NOTED THAT ANY GOVERNMENT AND ITS LEADERS MUST "BE
THE SUBJECT OF A PUBLIC REFERENDUM SO THAT IRAQIS CAN
DECIDE THEIR FUTURE AND HAVE THEIR SAY IN A FREE AND
DEMOCRATIC WAY."


7. MINIMIZE CONSIDERED.

WAHBA