Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04COLOMBO1549
2004-09-17 06:09:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:  

MALDIVIAN GOVERNMENT SEEKS US HELP IN STAVING OFF

Tags:  PGOV PHUM PREL MV 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001549 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS
NSC FOR DORMANDY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/15/2014
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL MV
SUBJECT: MALDIVIAN GOVERNMENT SEEKS US HELP IN STAVING OFF
EU RESOLUTION

REF: A. COLOMBO 1516

B. COLOMBO 1337

Classified By: AMB. JEFFREY J. LUNSTEAD. REASON: 1.4 (B,D).

-------
SUMMARY
--------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001549

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS
NSC FOR DORMANDY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/15/2014
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL MALDIVES'>MV
SUBJECT: MALDIVIAN GOVERNMENT SEEKS US HELP IN STAVING OFF
EU RESOLUTION

REF: A. COLOMBO 1516

B. COLOMBO 1337

Classified By: AMB. JEFFREY J. LUNSTEAD. REASON: 1.4 (B,D).

--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) On September 16 Mahamoud Shougee, Minister of
Education for the Government of the Republic of MALDIVES
(GORM),and Abdul Hameed Zakariyya, GORM Foreign Secretary,
called on the Ambassador to request U.S. advice and
assistance in staving off a resolution before the EU
Parliament condemning the recent State of Emergency and
subsequent detentions. Ambassador suggested that the
Maldivians contact EU Chiefs of Mission in Colombo directly,
but noted that ensuring due process for the detainees seemed
the best way to deflate the proposed resolution. Shougee
indicated that the State of Emergency (which allows detainees
to be held without charge and denies them the right to
counsel) would not be lifted immediately, but perhaps by the
end of the month. He suggested that the GORM is developing
evidence linking detainee Gasim Ibrahim, a member of the
Special Majlis and prominent local businessman, to "Sheikh"
Fareed, an anti-American Muslim extremist. He promised to
share this information when the investigation was completed.
The Maldivians invited DCM to visit the detainees during his
upcoming visit (September 19-20). We find it hard to believe
that pro-reform detainees--some of whom, including Gasim, are
well and favorably known to us--would be involved with
Fareed, whose goal of a rigid Islamic state is antithetical
to the democratic reforms the detained MPs had been pressing
for. End summary.

--------------
EU RESOLUTION
--------------


2. (C) On September 16 Mahamoud Shougee, Minister of
Education for the Government of the Republic of MALDIVES
(GORM),and Abdul Hameed Zakariyya, GORM Foreign Secretary,
called on the Ambassador to request U.S. advice and
assistance in forestalling a proposed resolution before the
EU Parliament condemning the State of Emergency and
subsequent detentions. (Note: Acording to the Members of
the European Parliament website, the proposed resolution was
passed later the same day. The text of a letter from the

Maldivian Foreign Minister to the Secretary on this subject,
received via diplomatic note on September 17, is being
conveyed septel. End note.) Shougee said that President
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom had specifically asked him to seek
"guidance and support" from the USG, which he regards as a
friendly country, to stop the resolution, which the GORM
fears would have grave consequences on the tourism industry.
(Note: 70 percent of tourist arrivals to MALDIVES are from
EU member countries. End note.)


3. (C) Noting that the U.S. has limited influence in the EU
Parliament, the Ambassador suggested the delegation visit EU
Chiefs of Mission in Colombo. Shougee said he would be doing
just that later in the day. The Ambassador observed that
ensuring due process for the detainees is likely the most
effective way to defuse such criticism from the EU.
Protracted detentions of people without charge and without
access to legal counsel feeds concern for the detainees'
welfare and doubts about the GORM's objectives, he cautioned.
In his visits to MALDIVES, the Ambassador said he had
witnessed a deep-seated desire for political growth,
especially among the youth. It is important that this desire
for change is channeled positively; the GORM decision to
establish the Special Majlis had seemed an attempt to do just
that. The U.S. had been encouraged by signs that President
Gayoom recognized the need for reform, the Ambassador said.
If, however, the pressure for democratic change is stifled,
it can end up being channeled in negative directions, he
said.

--------------
A FOREIGN/FUNDAMENTALIST HAND?
--------------


4. (C) Shougee agreed that things had been moving in the
right direction toward greater democratic change. President
Gayoom is serious about reform, he asserted; he has even
written a draft Constitution that allows for a multi-party
system, the direct election of the President, and other
reforms. Shougee said that he himself had been involved in
behind-the-scenes efforts to get the reform process back on
track after the controversy surrounding the election of the
Speaker of the Special Majlis (Ref B). Things were going the
right way, he reported, when the demonstrations of August
12-13 changed everything. While some observers contend that
the demonstrations were spontaneous and others that they were
planned, the fact remains that some of the protesters called
for Gayoom's resignation, which, he stated, "could be read as
an attempt to overthrow the government." The crowd
degenerated into a mob, he continued, throwing stones and
attempting to charge the police station. In the melee one
policeman was stabbed. The authorities were forced to take
stern measures in order to restore security, Shougee
summarized, including the imposition of a State of Emergency
and the detention of numerous suspects, some of whom
participated in the demonstrations and some of whom did not.
The State of Emergency will continue until the GORM completes
its investigations to determine whether there was an
organized attempt to bring down Gayoom's government and
whether there was "a foreign hand" in the chaos, he said.
These investigations might be completed and the State of
Emergency lifted by the end of the month, he suggested.


5. (C) Also of concern to the GORM, said Shougee, is the
apparent involvement of "Sheikh" Fareed, a radical
anti-American/anti-Western extremist who faces previous
charges for plotting to disrupt the tourism industry (by
throwing acid on tourists) and for calling for a "jihad" to
overthrow the government and set up an Islamic state. In
particular, Fareed had been heard protesting the recent
establishment of an American Corner in MALDIVES, Shougee
reported. Fareed's followers had initiated the
demonstrations and seemed to be inciting the crowd to
violence, he charged. A ruling on Fareed's pending cases is
expected soon; the GORM will not end the State of Emergency
until the ruling is announced. In the meantime, the GORM is
investigating whether any of the detainees has any link to
Fareed, he concluded, suggesting that Gasim Ibrahim, a
Special Majlis MP who has been detained since the
demonstrations, may have been funding Fareed. "That will
come out at the end of the day," he hinted, adding that the
GORM will share any such evidence with the Embassy.


6. (C) While acknowledging the GORM's need to restore order
after the demonstrations turned violent, the prolonged
detention of pro-reform MPs without charge and without access
to legal counsel is a "disturbing feature," the Ambassador
replied. Some of the current detainees, like Gasim Ibrahim,
are well known to the Embassy, he said, and while they are
strong advocates for democratic change, they do not appear to
have any interest in establishing an Islamic state. Gasim
Ibrahim, a prominent businessman with lucrative investments
in tourist resorts, seems a particularly unlikely supporter
of a fundamentalist determined to destroy the tourist
industry, the Ambassador suggested. The best way to handle
the zeal for change is to move ahead toward legitimate
reform, he reiterated. Calls for "jihad" find fertile ground
when there seems to no other outlet for change, he observed.
By providing such an outlet, the GORM could be a wonderful
example of a moderate Muslim state that develops into a
democracy. The USG, as a friend of MALDIVES, wants to
support that, he concluded.

--------------
DCM TO VISIT DETAINEES
--------------


7. (C) Noting that he plans to be in MALDIVES September
19-20 to open the U.S. Trade Fair, the DCM suggested that he
might use the opportunity to visit some of the detainees,
especially the daughter of Mohammad Latheef, a pro-reform
activist in self-imposed "exile" in Sri Lanka. Shougee
welcomed the suggestion, assuring the DCM he would be allowed
access to any and all prisoners requested. The Ambassador
said that he hoped to visit MALDIVES soon, perhaps in the
first week of October, and to meet with President Gayoom at
that time, as well as with the detainees, if they were still
detained at that time. Shougee supported that idea.
--------------
EU PERSPECTIVE
--------------

8. (C) In a September 16 meeting with the Ambassador, Dutch
Ambassador and current chair of the EU presidency Susanna
Blankhart spoke about the EU Heads of Mission September 6
trip to MALDIVES (Ref A). Having only met with Maldivian
Foreign Minister Fathulla Jameel and been denied a meeting
with President Gayoom, Blankhart described the visit at being
"met by a wall" by the GORM. That reaction led to the harsh
press statement released by the EU following the trip.
Blankhart explained that she tried to suggest to the FM that
the Maldivian government needed to be cautious about public
opinion regarding the August 12-13 protest and subsequent
events. Instead, the GORM issued a dismissive response to
the EU's press statement, which Blankhart attributed as one
of the causes of the strong September 16 resolution by the
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs),calling for Gayoom
to repeal the state of emergency and release the
pro-democracy reformers. Blankhart said that the EU's
agenda will remain the release of the prisoners, the repeal
of the state of emergency, and the reconvening of the Special
Majlis.


9. (C) Regarding the issue of Islamic fundamentalism,
Blankhart and the Ambassador agreed that it was a legitimate
concern, but the Ambassador said he did not understand how
that concern by the GORM could lead to the jailing of MPs.
Blankhart agreed with Ambassador that such repressive
behavior by the government could actually leave people with
no option other than the fundamentalist approach.

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


10. (C) Managing change is difficult, especially if one has
enjoyed, as President Gayoom has, unchallenged authority for
25 years. While Gayoom may recognize the need for pursue
reform, he wants to do so at his own pace. The pent-up
pressure for more immediate change, however, appears too
great for him to harness. If Gayoom expects this desire for
change to dissipate in the government clampdown--or our
interest in the detainees' welfare to fade because of
unsubstantiated allegations of an implausible link to Muslim
extremism--he is miscalculating. DCM will pursue visits
with pro-reform detainees during his upcoming stay in
MALDIVES.
LUNSTEAD