ETHIOPIA: COMBATING EXTREMISM

C O N F I D E N T I A L ADDIS ABABA 000217

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/07/2015
TAGS: PTER PGOV ET
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: COMBATING EXTREMISM

REF: A. STATE 159129


B. ADDIS ABABA 3984

Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES A.I. VICKI HUDDLESTON. REASON: 1.4 (B)
AND (D)


1. (C) Summary and Background: Ethiopia has a long-standing
tradition of religious tolerance between Christian and
Islamic communities. Christian and Muslim religious leaders
are quick to point out that intermingled communities attend
each others weddings, births, deaths, etc., although there
have been limited frictions as well. Ethiopia's population of
73 million is roughly evenly split between followers of Islam
and Orthodox Christianity. Islam is most prevalent in
Ethiopia's eastern and central regions of Afar, Somali, and
Oromiya. The prevailing attitude among the bulk of Ethiopia's
Muslim population is that "Wahabism" is "foreign," and things
foreign continue to be viewed with great caution and
suspicion. However, Saudi-backed NGOs have financed the
construction of mosques and schools throughout the country,
particularly in Oromiya region. Some Muslims have complained
recently that the Government of Ethiopia has made it more
difficult to construct Islamic schools or for Islamic
charities to operate. A recent survey of Muslim youth groups
in three key urban areas-- Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa and Harar--
indicate that most Ethiopian Muslim youth remain moderate in
their practice of Islam. In all three cities, the majority of
youth described Islam as a tolerant, moderate faith. In Addis
Ababa, however, some Muslim youths stated that they view
Islam as being under threat from Westerners and Christians.
(Note: Those interviewed were exclusively male. End note)


2. (C) The Ambassador, Emboffs, and senior USG visitors
routinely seek calls on Muslim leaders, along with other
religious group leaders. Muslim participants are sought out
for receptions, conferences, seminars, etc. Through USAID,
assistance is directed toward Muslim regions, including areas
in the east and west. The Embassy and other USG agencies
have also sought to encourage Muslim NGO participation in
programs such as HIV/AIDS. USAID support is building the
capacity of the Ethiopian Muslim Development Association
(EMDA) to carry out development programs. A number of grants
through the Ambassador's Self-Help Fund and Democracy and
Human Rights Fund have been awarded to groups in
predominately Muslim areas. Through the East Africa
Counter-terrorism Initiative, the USG has supported training
of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) and
implemented civil affairs projects (inoculations, bridge and
school repairs, etc.) through the Combined Joint Task Force
for the Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) in predominately Muslim
regions. These programs are key in changing perceptions of
the USG and have countered efforts by Islamic radicals to
subvert moderate Ethiopian Islam. End summary and background.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS ADVOCATES MUSLIM INCLUSION
--------------


3. (SBU) In all of its cultural and educational activities,
the Public Affairs Section (PAS) is conscious of including
Muslim participants. For example, in early 2005 PAS hosted
sixteen screenings and discussions of films with high school
and university students during Black History Month. Several
Muslim schools were included in the screenings, as well as
one university in the predominantly Muslim town of Adama. PAS
is also actively seeking to recruit a Muslim as its
educational advisor, a highly visible program which advises
youth on study in the U.S.


4. (SBU) PAS staff have been working to strengthen
relationships with Muslims in business and public service in
Ethiopia. Ethiopia was recently added to the list of
countries participating in the English ACCESS
Microscholarships Program, a new Department of State
initiative for underprivileged youth in predominantly Muslim
countries around the world. This program, which was launched
in November, will provide part-time English study using U.S.
books and materials for approximately 80 high school students
selected from Muslim communities in Addis Ababa. An advisory
board composed of Muslim business and community leaders will
serve to guide the program's implementation and as mentors
and positive role models for scholarship recipients.


5. (SBU) The FY2006 Ambassador's Fund for Cultural
Preservation (AFCP) awarded a grant to the Bureau of Youth,
Culture, and Sports of the Oromiya Regional State for the
conservation and structural consolidation of a 13th century
Muslim shrine, called the Sheikh Nur Hussein Shrine. On
September 28, Public Affairs hosted several members of the
Addis Ababa Muslim community for a luncheon. Among those who
attended were Sheikh Elias Redman, Vice President of the
Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and Mrs. Bedria Mohammed,
head of the Muslim Women's Development Association. During a
discussion about sites of religious and cultural importance
to Ethiopian Muslims, Sheikh Elias revealed that the
President of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs is in
fact a direct descendant of Sheikh Nur Hussein, a
thirteenth-century Ethiopian Sufi saint, revered by thousands
of Ethiopian Muslims in an annual pilgrimage to the site
where he lived and taught Islam in the Bale Region. Upon
learning of the AFCP grant and proposed conservation work,
Sheikh Elias expressed his enthusiasm, saying that he had
tried for a number of years to persuade UNESCO to consider
the Sheikh Nur Hussein site for inclusion on its list of
World Heritage Sites. PAS enlisted the help of the Supreme
Council of Ethiopian Islamic Affairs in publicizing the AFCP
project and in enlisting local community support.

EMBASSY OUTREACH STRENGTHENS RELATIONSHIPS
--------------


6. (SBU) Meetings with religious leaders are included in many
front office and political/economic in-country travel. An
April 2005 Ambassadorial visit to the regional capital of
Bahir Dar, a religiously diverse city, serves as a case in
point: The Ambassador, accompanied by POL and PA staff,
visited with senior members of the local community at a newly
built mosque, discussing the Muslim community's development
and education programs, reviewing how the U.S. mission had
and can continue to work with the community, and toured the
impressive new facility. During the tour, the Mosque's
intense young Imam (speaking privately and in Arabic with a
PA officer) expressed strong thanks for the visit; he
reiterated the community's discomfort with outside ("Arab")
influence, their wish to be clear that the building's
construction was made possible by community and not "outside"
funding, and his own wish to ensure we understood he stood
firm against extremist influence, saying it was "not part of
Ethiopian culture." He noted proudly that his education
locally and in Sudan (and pointedly not in Saudi Arabia) as
one that gave him tools to be an intellectual and religious -
not a political- leader for his congregation.


7. (SBU) Representational events have proven another avenue
of approach to influential members of the Ethiopian Muslim
community. For example, Ambassador Huddleston hosted an
Iftar dinner during Ramadan, which proved an excellent chance
for Emboffs to engage with a broad range of Muslim religious,
business, academic, cultural, and community figures including
the newly installed Minister of Culture, Minister of
Transport and Communication, leaders of the Islamic Supreme
Council, leaders of prominent Addis Ababa mosques, and the
leadership of the Muslim Women's Association. In the weeks
following the event, attendees repeatedly thanked Embassy
contacts for the dinner, noting that it exceeded in both
scale and attention to consideration of local Muslim customs
anything attempted by any other foreign presence in Addis.

HELPING ETHIOPIANS IMPROVE THEIR
LIVES WHILE CHANGING PERCEPTIONS
--------------


8. (C) CJTF-HOA, USAID, and the Embassy have all implemented
programs in predominately Muslim areas. Many of these areas
are both underserved by Ethiopian government institutions and
are food-insecure, thus increasing the local population's
vulnerability to more extreme forms of Islam. In 2005, the
Embassy awarded two 2005 Democracy and Human Rights Fund
grants to NGOs working in the predominately Muslim Somali
region. These projects will focus on women's rights and the
consequences of female genital mutilation. CJTF-HOA is
working to counter terrorism and extremist activities in the
region through civil affairs missions and
military-to-military training. For example, CJTF-HOA recently
funded renovations to a primary school in Somali region. By
utilizing local contractors in the renovation project, there
was a greater sense of community involvement and partnership
with the USG. USAID is actively engaged in a number of
development assistance and humanitarian programs that are
targeted directly at Muslim communities and predominately
Muslim areas. Recognizing that children in many Muslim,
pastoral, and remote areas lack access to adequate education
opportunities, USAID is initiating a program aimed at
enhancing the quality and equity in primary education. USAID
supported a radio education program for pastoralist children
in the Somali language that was so successful it is now being
used in Somalia. USAID is also supporting literacy training
for adults in these regions through local NGOs. To improve
the lives of pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in Afar,
Somali and Oromiya regions, USAID is implementing a $29
million pastoralist livelihoods initiative focused on
livestock. Other USAID programs are designed to improving
access to health and education, and enhancing traditional
dispute resolution mechanisms. By directly involving and
improving the lives of local communities, all of these
programs have created a more positive view of the United
States and are creating more stable and prosperous
environments.
HUDDLESTON