INTERIOR MINISTER ADVOCATES FORMAL RELATIONSHIP

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 001134 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR EUR/WE AND DRL/IRF E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV PGOV IT ITPHUM SUBJECT: INTERIOR MINISTER ADVOCATES FORMAL RELATIONSHIP WITH ISLAM IN ITALY ¶1. NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. ¶2. (SBU) IN THE PAST MONTH, BOTH INTERIOR MINISTER PISANU UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 02 ROME 01134 01 OF 02 191345Z AND SENATE PRESIDENT PERA PUBLICLY HAVE URGED ACCELERATED NEGOTIATION OF A STATE ACCORD WITH ITALY'S GROWING ISLAMIC COMMUNITY. THE CALLS ELICITED FAVORABLE PRESS COVERAGE AND MODEST PROTESTS FROM THE GENERALLY ANTI-IMMIGRANT NORTHERN LEAGUE (PART OF PM BERLUSCONI'S GOVERNING COALITION). THE RECENT SPEECHES ARE ENCOURAGING AND MAY PRESAGE A RENEWED GOVERNMENT PUSH TO CONCLUDE AN ACCORD. THEY DO LITTLE, THOUGH, TO ADDRESS THE PRINCIPAL OBSTACLE TO AN ACCORD - THE LACK OF CONSENSUS WITHIN ITALY'S COLLECTION OF FRACTIOUS ISLAMIC COMMUNITIES. ¶3. (U) FORMAL STATE ACCORDS (CALLED "INTESE") WERE CONCEIVED TO PROVIDE MINORITY FAITHS TREATMENT EQUAL TO THAT ENJOYED BY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. (ITALY PROVIDES FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, PARTLY AS COMPENSATION FOR EXPROPRIATED PROPERTY, UNDER THE 1929 LATERAN ACCORDS RESOLVING THE DIPLOMATIC AND LEGAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CHURCH AND STATE FOLLOWING CREATION OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC). THE ACCORDS PROVIDE MODEST FINANCIAL BENEFITS AND HELP SMOOTH ADMINISTRATIVE DEALINGS WITH THE OFTEN LABYRINTHINE ITALIAN BUREAUCRACIES BY NORMALIZING SUCH MATTERS AS A FAITH'S REPRESENTATION IN PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS SUCH AS PRISONS AND HOSPITALS AND ITS LEGAL CHARACTER WITH RESPECT TO PROPERTY. SINCE THE PROVISION'S INCEPTION, SIX FAITHS HAVE CONCLUDED FORMAL AGREEMENTS; TWO OTHERS AWAIT PARLIAMENTARY RATIFICATION. AN ACCORD IS NOT REQUIRED FOR FAITHS TO WORSHIP IN ITALY. INDEED, ITALY'S MUSLIM COMMUNITIES HAVE BEEN WORSHIPPING FREELY IN OVER 200 MOSQUES AND PRAYER CENTERS. ¶4. (SBU) WITHIN THE SPACE OF THREE WEEKS, BOTH PISANU AND UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 03 ROME 01134 01 OF 02 191345Z PERA FOUND PUBLIC PLATFORMS TO ADVOCATE RAPID CONCLUSION OF AN ACCORD WITH THE ISLAMIC FAITH. THEIR MOTIVE IS A FAIRLY CLEAR, SIMPLE ONE: SOCIAL PEACE. MAINSTREAM ITALIANS HAVE BEEN RATTLED BY THE PERIODIC DISCOVERY OF RADICAL ISLAMIST TERRORIST CELLS. COUPLED WITH PERCEPTIONS OF RAPIDLY ESCALATING IMMIGRATION, MUCH OF IT FROM ISLAMIC COUNTRIES, THESE TERROR PLOTS HAVE LEFT COMMENTATORS, POLITICIANS AND MANY CITIZENS ALARMED OVER THE DEVELOPMENT OF PARALLEL MINI- SOCIETIES THAT SHARE FEW OF ITALY'S COMMONLY ACCEPTED NORMS AND VALUES. WHILE PLEASED WITH THE DISRUPTION AND ARREST OF SUSPECTED ISLAMIC TERRORIST GROUPS IN ITALY, PISANU REPORTEDLY VIEWS THOSE RESULTS AS SYMPTOMATIC OF A WORRYING UNDERLYING PHENOMENON. IN WHAT APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN UNCOORDINATED INITIATIVES, BOTH PISANU AND PERA DECIDED TO PUSH A POSITIVE ALTERNATIVE TO THE REACTIONARY FEARMONGERING ESPOUSED BY THE NORTHERN LEAGUE AND CULTURAL TRADITIONALISTS OPPOSED TO A MORE MULTICULTURAL ITALY. ¶5. (U) DECLARING HIS SUPPORT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN "ITALIAN ISLAM COMPATIBLE WITH OUR LAWS AND VALUES," PISANU JANUARY 21 ANNOUNCED HE WAS READY TO SIT DOWN WITH THE LEADERS OF MODERATE ISLAM IN ITALY TO CONCLUDE A FORMAL ACCORD. MEANWHILE, THE STATE WOULD MEET ISLAMIC EXTREMISM WITH ALL NECESSARY FIRMNESS. "THE MOSQUES MUST NOT BE SOURCES OF POLITICAL PROPAGANDA OR, AS HAS HAPPENED, TERRORIST FINANCING," PISANU ASSERTED. THREE WEEKS LATER, SENATE PRESIDENT PERA ECHOED PISANU'S BROAD CALL, SAYING THAT IT WAS TIME FOR AN ACCORD - PROVIDED ITALY'S MUSLIMS RESPECTED RECIPROCALLY ITALIAN SOCIETY. ¶6. (SBU) THE REMARKS REFLECT INTER ALIA PISANU'S STRATEGY OF UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 04 ROME 01134 01 OF 02 191345Z ENCOURAGING THE ASCENDANCY WITHIN ITALIAN MUSLIM COMMUNITIES OF A TOLERANT, MODERATE FORM OF ISLAM COMPATIBLE WITH ITALIAN LAW AND SOCIETAL NORMS. PISANU HAS SAID HE WOULD LIKE TO DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS WITH A SMALL GROUP OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE FAITH WHO COULD HELP THE GOVERNMENT UNDERSTAND THEIR COMMUNITIES, MANAGE PROBLEMS - AND, INTER ALIA, IDENTIFY MORE RADICAL ELEMENTS. IF THIS DIALOGUE PROVED SUCCESSFUL, THE GROUP COULD BECOME THE APPROPRIATE COUNTERPART TO ESTABLISH A FRAMEWORK INTESA. ¶7. (SBU) IF PISANU'S REMARKS ARE INDICATIVE OF A NEW PUSH BY THE BERLUSCONI GOVERNMENT TO CONCLUDE AN ACCORD WITH ITALIAN MUSLIMS, THE INTERIOR MINISTER FACES A MAJOR CHALLENGE. THE PRINCIPAL OBSTACLE TO AN AGREEMENT HASN'T BEEN THE LACK OF A GOVERNMENT COMMITMENT; INTERIOR MINISTRY CONTACTS TELL US THEY'VE HAD A DRAFT ACCORD READY FOR MONTHS. RATHER, IT'S THE ABSENCE OF A REPRESENTATIVE GROUP WITH WHOM MINISTRY OFFICIALS CAN NEGOTIATE. ISLAM IN ITALY IS, TO BORROW A PHRASE FROM PISANU, AN "ARCHIPELAGO" OF RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS, IMMIGRANT GROUPS AND INDIVIDUAL PRAYER CENTERS. MANY OF THESE GROUPS CLAIM TO REPRESENT THE BULK OF THEIR CORELIGIONISTS AND, THEREFORE, TO BE THE GOVERNMENT'S NATURAL INTERLOCUTOR. ¶8. (SBU) THIS MOSAIC OF ASSOCIATIONS, DRAWN FROM DIFFERENT UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED PTQ0622 PAGE 01 ROME 01134 02 OF 02 191345Z ACTION EUR-00 INFO LOG-00 NP-00 AID-00 AMAD-00 CIAE-00 INL-00 DODE-00 SRPP-00 DS-00 EB-00 UTED-00 VC-00 TEDE-00 INR-00 IO-00 LAB-01 L-00 VCE-00 AC-01 NSAE-00 NSCE-00 OIC-02 OMB-01 DHS-00 OPIC-01 PA-00 PM-00 PRS-00 ACE-00 P-00 SCT-00 SP-00 STR-00 TEST-00 TRSE-00 USIE-00 PMB-00 DSCC-00 PRM-00 DRL-01 G-00 SAS-00 /007W -------------- 46F6CB 191351Z /38 R 191341Z MAR 03 FM AMEMBASSY ROME TO SECSTATE WASHDC 8806 INFO EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE UNCLAS SECTION 02 OF 02 ROME 001134 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR EUR/WE AND DRL/IRF E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV PGOV IT ITPHUM SUBJECT: INTERIOR MINISTER ADVOCATES FORMAL RELATIONSHIP WITH ISLAM IN ITALY CULTURES AND PHILOSOPHIES, AGREES ON LITTLE - INCLUDING THE MAIN ELEMENTS OF A FORMAL ACCORD. RATHER THAN TRY TO SORT OUT THEIR DIFFERENCES, THE MAJOR ISLAMIC ASSOCIATIONS ARE UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 02 ROME 01134 02 OF 02 191345Z CONTENT TO SUGGEST THAT THE GOVERNMENT CONCLUDE MULTIPLE ACCORDS WITH THE VARIOUS GROUPS (BEGINNING FIRST WITH THEIR OWN, NATURALLY). IN THE MEANTIME, THEY POSTURE TO IMPROVE THEIR RESPECTIVE CLAIM TO REPRESENT THE BULK OF ITALY'S MUSLIMS IN THE EVENT THE GOVERNMENT HOLDS TO ITS CURRENT POLICY OF NEGOTIATING A SINGLE AGREEMENT. ¶9. (SBU) COMMENT: PISANU'S AND PERA'S SPEECHES ULTIMATELY MAY AMOUNT ONLY TO RHETORICAL OUTREACH. EVEN THE CONCLUSION OF AN INTESE WOULD HAVE MORE SYMBOLIC THAN PRACTICAL IMPACT, BUT THIS MODEST OUTCOME WOULD STILL REPRESENT AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE WARY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ITALIANS AND THE MAJORITY OF MUSLIM IMMIGRANTS. THEIR REMARKS UNDERSCORE THE GOVERNMENT'S POSITION THAT ITALY'S "MUSLIM ARCHIPELAGO" IS POPULATED PRIMARILY BY REASONABLE PEOPLE WORTHY OF RESPECT AND DIALOGUE. THAT MESSAGE PROVIDES AN IMPORTANT COUNTERWEIGHT TO THE ALARMIST, REACTIONARY VIEWS OF THE NORTHERN LEAGUE AND OTHERS FEARFUL OF THE EROSION OF "TRADITIONAL" ITALIAN SOCIETY THAT, UNTIL NOW, HAVE TENDED TO DOMINATE PUBLIC DISCOURSE ON THE SUBJECT. SEMBLER UNCLASSIFIED > 2003ROME01134 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED