SHIA-SUNNI CLASHES IN SOKOTO KILL THREE MORE

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SUBJECT: SHIA-SUNNI CLASHES IN SOKOTO KILL THREE MORE

REF: ABUJA 771

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1. (U) Summary: A two-day conflict between rival Muslim
groups in the northwestern city of Sokoto, seat of
Nigeria's senior Islamic leader, the Sultan of Sokoto,
led to the deaths of at least three people while dozens
were injured. Shops, houses and other valuables were
torched as Shia and Sunni activists battled each other
with sticks, machetes and swords May 13-14. Police
confirmed the arrest of over fifty rioters and some are
expected to be arraigned in court soon. Although
normalcy has returned to Sokoto so far this week, the
crisis may resurface again because the two groups are
fiercely engaged in their struggle for supremacy. End
Summary.

BACKGROUND


2. (SBU) Nigeria's Muslims are virtually all Sunni, at
least historically, with a few Shia and Sufi among
scholars and Nigerians returning from other countries.
The radical Islamic preacher Ibrahim El-Zakzaky once
led a mass movement based in Zaria that was widely
regarded (feared) as Nigeria's most influential
Islamists. Somewhere along the way over his 25 years
of activism he picked up both Iranian funding and Shia
theology; it is unclear which came first. From 1999,
however, Zakzaky started losing the political edge to
groups favoring imposition of Sharia as criminal law in
Nigeria's northern states, led by Ahmed Sani, now
governor of Zamfara State, and others. Zakzaky faded
into the background.


3. (SBU) Zakzaky has since rebuilt a mass movement of
activists who see themselves as Shia and celebrate Shia
customs such as Ashura. This may be more akin to
religious branding -- to gain Iranian funding and to
differentiate themselves from other radical groups
recruiting from the same alienated population -- than
religious conversion. Zakzaky calls his followers the
"Muslim Brothers," a term usually associated by modern
Islamists with the Sunni Hasan Al-Banna's Muslim
Brotherhood in Egypt, but here reflecting that Zakzaky
seeks like Al-Banna did to build an Islamic society-
within-society. Zakzaky has long called his
organization "The Islamic Movement of Nigeria," and it
has a website (www.islamicmovement.org).


4. (SBU) To the best of our knowledge, Zakzaky did not
graduate from formal training at any of the great Shia
theological centers in Iran, Iraq or Lebanon, although
he has visited Iran often. His religious training is
Sunni, inside Nigeria. But Zakzaky is combining his
various sources of funding with various sources of
recruits, drawing on northern Nigerians' combination of
great anger at their society's dysfunctionality and
great unemployment from it. Zakzaky has put together a
large enough organization to hold rallies in many
places on Shia-connotated holidays such as Ashura, and
is trying to take over mainstream mosques through
infiltrating their mosque committees and membership.

FIGHTING BEGINS


5. (U) In February in Sokoto State, at least three
persons were killed and dozens injured in fighting
between groups of Sunni and Shia. Zakzaky's Shia
supporters claim their public commemoration of Ashura
was attacked in an attempt to stop their procession,
and one person was killed. They blamed the Sultan of
Sokoto, who is the head of Nigeria's Supreme Council
for Islamic Affairs, and some days later there was a
fight at the mosque in front of the Sultan's palace.
Skirmishes continued off and on through March and
April.


6. (U) A major fight broke out May 13 as the Shia
sought to control strategic mosques in the ancient city
of Sokoto. Fighting started Friday afternoon during
prayers, continued until Saturday evening. There were
reports of further skirmishes on Monday but sources
said the police quickly stepped in to contain the
situation. Three people were confirmed dead while
dozens were being treated at various hospitals for
minor and major injuries. Social and business
activities were paralyzed. Although non-Muslims were
not attacked nonetheless some of them ran to military
barracks for safety. Shops were looted while some
houses and other buildings were set ablaze.


7. (U) Police authorities in Sokoto confirmed that over
fifty suspects across the two groups were arrested out
of which, some of them would appear in court very soon
after full investigations have been carried out.
Another source disclosed that the suspects may be
arraigned this week. Police revealed that some
suspects were legal minors and were released to their
parents after seriously warning them.

WHAT'S ALL THE FIGHTING ABOUT?


8. (U) Sokoto is the seat of Nigeria's Caliphate and
home of the Sultan of Sokoto, the senior Muslim
traditional leader in Nigeria. There are different
versions of how the fight began, once the Shia began to
seek leadership roles in mainstream mosques' governing
mosque committees, especially at the central mosque
named for the Caliphate's founder Shehu Dan Fodio.
Some on both sides say the "Sunni activists"
(themselves street toughs and little better than rent-a-
mobs) attacked to stop the spread of Shia doctrine in
Sunni Sokoto. Apologists (or the paymasters) for the
"Sunni activists" say the Shia displayed contempt and
disrespect to Sunni leaders, especially the Sultan.
The Shia side correspondingly claims that the Sultan is
behind the attacks on Shia worshippers. The Governor
of Sokoto State has tried to stay neutral, at least in
public.


9. (SBU) Yahaya Sokoto, Special Assistant to Governor
Bafarawa, says the state government had no plans to
discriminate against any religious group but added:
"All groups must respect the doctrines of others." He
believes the conflict goes beyond the struggle to
control the mosques, accusing Zakzaky's backers within
the state of fueling the crisis for personal gain.


10. (SBU) Bloody "religious" fights stemming from socio-
economic competition are commonplace in Nigeria, as are
aspiring politicos egging on such conflicts for their
own political gain. The local VOA Correspondent told
us that the Shia seem to be making inroads into the
ranks of artisans, students and other less-privileged
in the society, capitalizing on widespread alienation
from northern Nigeria's dysfunctional society.
Zakzaky's followers' expressions of contempt for the
local establishment were therefore quite appealing to
these categories of people, who are also a bedrock of
support for the city's traditional Muslim rulers like
the Sultan. In a city where conservative traditions
are strong and strict obedience to religious authority
is expected, the VOA correspondent said that any
insults to religious leaders could be expected to
produce violence.


11. (SBU) There are, of course, other insults that can
produce violence in Nigeria. The Newsweek allegations
(reftel) were one, and Zakzaky was thought to be
preparing demonstrations in northern cities outside
Sokoto. Perhaps he was preoccupied with Sokoto.
FUREY