UNCLAS MADRID 003752

SIPDIS

FOR EUR/WE -- CLEMENTS AND HALL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KISL SP
SUBJECT: LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH FROM SECRETARY GENERAL OF
THE ISLAMIC COMMISSION OF SPAIN

REF: MADRID 3671


1. At Embassy Madrid's Iftar dinner on October 13 (see
reftel), the Ambassador received a letter from the Secretary
General of the Islamic Commission of Spain (ICS), Mansur
Escudero, addressed to President Bush. Post is engaged in an
active program of Muslim Outreach, and in this area, Escudero
is one of our most important contacts. A Spanish convert to
Islam, Escudero is a moderate Muslim who as head of the ICS
is the Spanish government's primary interlocutor on religious
issues with the Muslim community in Spain. Given the
importance of this contact, post would appreciate some sort
of response to the letter. Translated text follows.


2. Begin text of letter:

Dear Mr. President:

On celebrating iftar today, the 10th day of Ramadan, at the
Embassy of the United States in Madrid, I want to send you my
cordial regards for the American people and a message of
goodwill from Spanish Muslims.

On March 11th, the Islamic Commission of Spain, the highest
representative body of Spanish Muslims before the Spanish
State, issued a fatwa against terrorism, declaring it alien
to the spirit and the letter of Islam, and specifically
condemning Al Qaeda terrorism, which falsely pretends to base
itself on the Sacred Qur'an and the Sunna of the Prophet
Mohammed, may God bless and save Him.

I must tell you that, as a representative of a small Muslim
community with deeply rooted historic ties to Christianity
and Judaism, the fatwa against terrorism is an express
declaration of our faith in Islam as a religion of peace and
harmony, totally incompatible with any form of aggression or
terror, capable of accepting all prior revelations and an
excellent paradigm of civilization for these turbulent times.

That same fatwa expressly condemns the claim on Al Andalus
(Andalusia, Spain) issued by Al Qaeda, clearly showing, from
a spiritual and legal standpoint, the contradiction inherent
in such a claim. We say the tragedy of Al Andalus is in the
hands of God, the best of judges, the Lord of History; and
the Treaty of Cooperation signed between the Spanish State
and the Islamic Commission of Spain in 1992 opened a new
chapter in the relationship between the Spanish State and
Spanish Muslims, based on the recognition of the contribution
of Islam to Spanish identity and the desire for mutual, loyal
cooperation to the benefit of all Spaniards.

Moved by the same spirit that brought us to draft the fatwa,
we write to you to ask you to lead a project of peace and
prosperity in the world in which, as the prophet Isiah says,
"swords are converted to ploughshares and spears to pruning
knives, where people do not rise up against people nor are
they schooled in war."

This is the project that America is called to take upon
itself in this decisive century, the project of consolidating
Peace and Justice in the world. This is the project that
Muslims desire and to which we invite all the powerful of the
earth, since we believe that all Power comes from God and
there is no Authority but His.

For Muslims, Islam means peace, health and harmony. I invite
you, therefore, to Islam, to promote good and reject evil, to
put the immense material and spiritual capital of your nation
to work in favor of peace, justice and world prosperity.

In this endeavor you can count on Spanish Muslims, aware that
the world demands entry into an era of global wellbeing in
which peace, justice and freedom are the best of businesses
and where delirium and hate give way to sanity, to peaceful
coexistence and freedom.

May God illuminate you in your responsibilities to govern and
bless America and all the peoples of the earth.



(signed: Mansur Escudero)
Mansur Abdusalam Escudero
Secretary General of the Islamic Commission of Spain

SIPDIS
MANZANARES