BURMA'S MUSLIM LEADERS, FOREIGN DIPLOMATS FETED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 001509

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV, IIP
USPACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2013
TAGS: KISL SCUL KPAO PREL BM
SUBJECT: BURMA'S MUSLIM LEADERS, FOREIGN DIPLOMATS FETED
FOR RAMADAN

REF: A. STATE 302772


B. RANGOON 1479

C. RANGOON 1361

Classified By: COM Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.5 (B,D)


1. (SBU) Summary: Two Iftaar dinners hosted recently by the
Embassy community made great strides in improving already
good relations with the Burmese and Diplomatic Muslim
communities. There were good exchanges on religious
diversity, the role of Islam in the United States, religious
tensions in Burma, and the importance of multilateral
cooperation to combat terrorism. Both events will lead to
several follow-on steps, which will advance Embassy
political, security, and religious freedom policy objectives.
End summary.

Muslim Leaders Break Bread for Iftaar


2. (U) A November 19 Iftaar dinner hosted by Chief of Mission
(COM) and Embassy staff was extremely well received by nine
Burmese Muslim leaders, and their spouses, who told us they'd
never before been invited by the U.S. Embassy to such an
event. The attendees at the dinner included scholars, and
representatives of the Muslim youth league, Burma's only
Muslim newspaper, and one of the country's two primary Muslim
groups -- the Islamic Religious Affairs Council. Burmese
Muslims are predominately Sunni, however, the leader of the
country's Shi'ite minority also attended.


3. (U) The dinner was quite collegial, with the COM
discussing the importance of religious diversity and the
prominence of Islam in the United States. She also made the
point that in discussions with the Burmese government on
terrorism, the U.S. government was adamant that legitimate
security concerns were not a pretext for further Burmese
government oppression of the Muslim community.


4. (C) On recent Buddhist-Muslim violence (ref c),the
attendees said that there had been no further incidences
since late October. However, they admitted, there was still
some atmosphere of fear in the Muslim quarters of Rangoon.
One of the Iftaar guests had to leave the dinner early
because he was due for "neighborhood watch" duty --
apparently arranged with the government so any sparks can be
quickly reported to a responsible military official.


5. (C) Another leader told us that the Ministry of Religious
Affairs in mid-November reminded the Muslim community again
to be wary and avoid "provocative actions." Consequently,
the leader said, the Muslim organizations were warning their
members this Ramadan to avoid paying homage all night at the
graves of their relatives. Leaders also said they had not
asked for recent GOB actions to restrict Buddhist monks and
monasteries (ref b). On the contrary, they feared this
crackdown might provoke Buddhist resentment against Muslims.

Our Dinner with Muslim Diplomats


6. (U) On November 15, the Air Attach also hosted an Iftaar
dinner at his home for Defense Attaches from Bangladesh,
Pakistan, Malaysia, and Indonesia and their families. The
guests said they enjoyed the evening and were very pleased
with the fellowship that came from breaking fast together.
During the evening, those present discussed issues such as
the root causes of international terrorism, how to deal with
terrorists, and the need for further cross-border information
sharing and cooperation. In the end, all agreed that
building relationships that increase our mutual understanding
is a crucial first step toward working better together in the
future to stop trans-national terrorism and other national
security threats.

Comment: The Beginning of Beautiful Friendships


7. (SBU) Both Embassy-hosted Iftaars were solid stepping
stones to even closer relations with the Burmese and
diplomatic Muslim community. The Defense Attach and other
Embassy officials will continue to engage Rangoon-based
diplomats from Muslim countries on security cooperation, and
local religious and political issues. In addition, we are
already planning several follow-on steps for cultivating our
ties to the Burmese Muslim community. Following the COM's
Iftaar dinner, several of the Muslim leaders invited Embassy
hosts to their headquarters to attend future Iftaar dinners.
Another leader invited the Chief of Mission to visit a local
madrassa that teaches about Islam in English. We also
received many requests from the Burmese Muslims for more
information on Muslims in the United States; requests that
our Public Diplomacy section will quickly meet.
Martinez