BASRAH SUNNI IMAM ATTENDS CONFERENCE IN TEHRAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L BASRAH 000139

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 8/27/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KISL IR IZ
SUBJECT: BASRAH SUNNI IMAM ATTENDS CONFERENCE IN TEHRAN

REF: (A) BASRAH 78 (B) BASRAH 101 (C) BASRAH 109

CLASSIFIED BY: Ken Gross, Regional Coordinator, REO Basrah,
Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b)


1. (C) The Regional Coordinator (RC) met with Sheik Khalid
al-Mullah, a close REO contact and prominent Basrah Sunni imam,
at the latter's request on August 24. Sheik Khalid recently
returned from four days in Tehran attending the 19th
International Islamic Unity Conference that focused on the role
of Muslims living in non-Islamic countries. He said the Iranian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs sponsored his trip. He requested
the meeting with the RC in order to share his experience and
thoughts on his trip. Sheik Khalid described the attendees as a
mix of Sunni and Shia from all over the world, including
participants from Kuwait, Syria, Australia, Holland and Sweden
among others. He said that there were only three participants
from Iraq, although he understood that approximately ten people
had been invited. Besides Sheik Khalid, the other two Iraqi
participants were from Baghdad and Najaf.


2. (C) Sheik Khalid said he presented research he had done
regarding the view of Muslims by people living in non-Islamic
countries as well as his ideas on Iran's pursuit of nuclear
energy. In brief, he said there were "no problems" between
westerners and Muslims, and insurgents sent to cause violence in
the western world gave the rest of the world an inaccurate
picture of Muslims. He also told the participants of the
conference that Iran's pursuit of nuclear energy was
wrong-headed and that nuclear weapons could come into the hands
of insurgents. He said that throughout the conference, Iranian
participants reiterated that nuclear energy was being sought by
Iran for non-weapons purposes. Sheik Khalid told the RC that he
was not well educated on the topic of nuclear energy, but
believed that other alternatives must exist that would be better
options for Iran.


3. (C) According to Sheik Khalid, the Iranians were "very
upset" with the Americans, but he tried to explain his views on
the United States. In discussions with fellow participants, he
clarified that the United States stood for "the right ideas" and
that without the United States Sadaam Hussein would never have
been punished and Iraq would not have been freed. In the end,
Sheik Khalid told the RC that other participants accepted that
the Iraqis would have a different view of the United States. At
the end of the conference, Ayatollah Ali Khameni spoke to the
participants. In his talk, Khameni endorsed the Lebanese
resistance, described the U.S. as a devil and a tyrant,
explained that all nuclear research was being done for
scientific purposes and denied that Iran had any involvement in
the violence in Iraq. Sheik Khalid said that he was successful
in convincing other participants to not include the legalization
of resistance in Iraq in the final conference statement.


4. (C) Comment: Sheik Khalid is a very moderate Sunni cleric
in Basrah and a frequent REO contact (see reftels). His family
currently resides in Syria due to threats against Sunnis in
Basrah (his son was kidnapped and held hostage, ref B) and he
divides his time between Basrah and Syria. He is scheduled to
go on an international visitor program, "Promoting Interfaith
Dialogue" in mid-November. Always open and honest about his
views on the political and security situations in Basrah, he is
a worthwhile contact and is one of the few people working to
improve Basrah for the good of the community and not for
personal gain. His views are very much pro-coalition and
anti-extremists. While in the United States on his visit, he
would make a convincing and excellent representative of the
Sunni community in any high-level meeting or press event. End
comment.

GROSS