MUSLIM IV HITS HOME RUN TELLING AMERICA'S

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MAPUTO 001112

SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/PD; AF/S (HTREGER)
PARIS FOR ARS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP PINR KPAO MZ
SUBJECT: MUSLIM IV HITS HOME RUN TELLING AMERICA'S
STORY


1. SUMMARY. Speaking to large audiences of Mozambican
Muslims, Abdul Carimo Sau told America's story better
than any American could have done. Sau, the Vice
President of the Islamic Council of Mozambique,
recently returned from the three-week International
Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) on Religion and the
Community, and on August 22 appeared on a much-
discussed local Islamic radio call-in talk show with
the PAO. Two days later, he led a PAS-hosted
roundtable on his visit to the U.S., a program attended
by the leadership of the Islamic community and Muslim
students and broadcast live from start to finish on the
same radio station. Sau has demonstrated compellingly
the immediate impact that the IVLP can have and how the
program's long-term goals dovetail nicely with a post's
short-term agenda. END SUMMARY

ACCEPTS PAO INVITATION TO GO ON AIR

2. On August 18, the PAO and PAS staff debriefed Sau
upon his return from the IVLP. Sau spoke warmly and
openly about the program, underscoring that he
witnessed a highly religious nation, pluralistic and
respectful of faiths, regardless of tradition or
practice. Pressed to cite a criticism, he averred that
the sometimes hectic schedule did not adapt well to the
African sensibility of extended meetings and meals. He
would have preferred more time to talk. He immediately
accepted the PAO's invitation to appear jointly on a
previously arranged call-in talk show on Radio Imane (a
station for the Maputo Muslim community of perhaps
100,000).


3. On August 22 at 9:00 AM, Sau and the PAO went on the
air. What was intended as a one-hour interview with
call-in questions lasted two hours and won an
invitation for a follow-up program. Sau described his
trip, emphasizing again the religious nature of the
American public in general and the thriving condition
of Islam in the U.S. in particular. He said that it
was his first trip to the U.S. and that Americans were
in reality much different from the preconceived
stereotype he had derived from mass media. Islam in
fact is thriving in America, he declared, in part
thanks to the separation of religion and state,
evidence that freedom of religion in a pluralistic
society can only benefit Muslims. In response to a
question, he noted that concerns of Islam in
Mozambique, such as fear of wearing the veil in public,
are non-issues in an America where tolerance for
differences and respect for religiosity prevail.

TAKING THE HARD QUESTIONS

4. On August 24, PAS hosted Sau for a roundtable. Some
40 leaders of the Islamic community attended with a
handful of Muslim students. Radio Imane, in close
coordination with PAS, aired the entire two-hour
roundtable live, including several call-in questions
from radio listeners. Sau went into depth about his
trip. Reiterating his earlier theme about the
religiosity of Americans, he cited figures to this
effect, but his anecdotes brought home the point. His
meals with Americans, he said, all opened with a
blessing. He described the vast role that religion
plays in supporting social services at the local level,
taking San Diego's "Father Joe" (Carroll) as an
example. (Carroll is a Catholic priest who runs a
large, self-supporting homeless center.) He was most
impressed by the giving nature of Americans, the
immense amounts they donate to charities.

THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR

5. Sau skillfully addressed questions about U.S. policy
in the Middle East. He emphasized that the U.S. was
the only party trusted by both the Palestinians and the
Israelis, and this occupied a necessary role as go-
between. Their dispute resembles more a family feud
that has raged for generations in that both sides have
almost forgotten the original issues of land; but don't
think of it as a war of faiths. Similarly, the
conflict in Iraq goes back centuries, long before the
U.S. ever arrived. It is not a war about religion, but
power and injustice, that only a fair apportionment of
power and justice will resolve. He also addressed the
War on Terror and the extent that September 11 as well
as the acts of terror that have taken place in Madrid,
London, and elsewhere have impacted the America
populace.


6. American is not monolithic, he reiterated. An
intense debate about the Iraq War is going on in the
U.S. Congress and in the media every day. Democrats
have criticized the war from the beginning, with
Republicans generally supporting President Bush. He
called attention to the protest taking place near the
President's Texas ranch, and another one that he
witnessed in front of the White House. Where in pre-
war Iraq, or even Mozambique, would a leader tolerate a
protest almost on his doorstep?

SHATTERING THE MYTH OF AN EMBATTLED ISLAM IN AMERICA

7. The audience at the roundtable asked several
questions about the state of Islam in the U.S. Here,
Sau noted that every medium-sized city now has a
mosque, and that Islam claims as many adherents as
Judaism. Wearing traditional Muslim garb, he
experienced no discrimination; to the contrary, he
observed that many of the issues that face Muslims in
other parts of the world do not exist in the U.S. He
spoke about the role of pressure groups in U.S.
politics, in response to a question about the domestic
sources of U.S. foreign policy and the perceived
failure of Muslims to organize as Jews and Christians
have. The simple fact is, he argued, that most Muslims
are recent immigrants or children of immigrants and
have not yet sunk the political roots of longer-
established faiths.

UTAH IMPRESSES

8. Utah provided the biggest and best surprise. He had
never before envisioned an America where religion was
dominant in daily life to the extent that an entire
university (Brigham Young) could ban smoking and
drinking, among other things. He assured the audience
that if he were to send his children to study in the
U.S., he would send them to Brigham Young University
and recommended that other Muslims think accordingly.
What is important, he added, is that religion be
respected. In the U.S., he saw evidence of that general
respect.


9. COMMENT. Sau hit a home run. He's a far better
spokesman for our message than any American, because
he's Mozambican, Muslim, and influential within his own
community. His low-key, articulate style underscores a
truism in public diplomacy, that getting others to tell
America's story is often the most effective technique.
The ability and willingness to criticize us from time
to time gives him credibility, lending even more weight
to his positive views about the U.S. As in this case,
we will use mass media when available, the PAO and
other Americans when appropriate, and influential
locals when possible. Hats off to ECA for a signal
success.
La Lime