BASRAH UNITED - SOCCER BRINGS THE SHIA, SUNNIS, CHRISTIANS

UNCLAS BASRAH 000031 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPAO PREL PGOV IZ SUBJECT: BASRAH UNITED - SOCCER BRINGS THE SHIA, SUNNIS, CHRISTIANS AND MANDAEANS TOGETHER ¶1. Summary. On March 5, the Regional Embassy Office (REO) in Basrah organized a local outreach event that brought together religious leaders and children from all the communities in Basrah to celebrate religious tolerance. The event was held at the largest mosque in Basrah and included the presentation of soccer balls and soccer paraphernalia from the Real Madrid Football Club of Madrid. With local and international media present, all the participants agreed that such events should be repeated in the future to highlight how Basrah continues to be a melting pot of religions. End summary. ¶2. The Deputy Regional Coordinator (DRC) had received a variety of Real Madrid soccer material from soccer great Zinedine Zidane who he had met while working at the U.S. Embassy in Madrid. The sports material was to be donated to Iraqi children in Basrah. In addition, through REO donations, soccer balls were purchased locally and combined with the Real Madrid material. With the increase in sectarian violence after the bombing of the Al Askariya mosque in Samarra, the need to promote religious tolerance acquired a greater urgency. As a result, the DRC began to meet with different religious leaders to gauge their interest in an event that would bring children together under the umbrella of sports. ¶3. The DRC met separately with the Christian leader, the Archbishop of Basrah, Gabriel Kassab, the Shiite cleric of the largest mosque in Basrah, Syed Abdul Aaly Al Moosawi and the highly respected Shiite leader and Basrah Provincial Council (BPC) member, Syed Bahaa Jama al Deen. The latter was instrumental in influencing the participation of the Sunni imam, Sheik Khalid Al Mullah and the leader of the Sabaeans-Madaeans, Sheik Raad Gbashi. With regards to the Sabaeans-Madaeans, the DRC was previously unaware of their importance in Basrah until Shiite cleric Syed Abdul Aaly Al Moosawi insisted they be included and offered his mosque as the site for the event. ¶4. The various religious leaders were asked to bring children from their respective communities between the ages of 6 - 10 years old. On the day of the event, 22 children (6 girls and 16 boys) arrived at the Al Moosawi mosque accompanied by parents and the religious leaders. BPC member Syed Bahaa Jama al Deen spoke to the crowd of about 50-60 guests and 20 media personnel, welcoming the opportunity to promote religious unity through children and sports. The Regional Coordinator (RC),Ken Gross, also spoke thanking the religious leaders for their courage in gathering together for the sake of the children of Basrah. Finally, the DRC presented an autographed poster of Real Madrid to Captain Hussein Abdallah, the general manager of a local soccer club who is also the Director General of Iraqi Ports. ¶5. During the event, the 22 children were extremely well behaved, but slightly fearful. The sight of heavily armed security personnel brought some of them to tears, clearly showing the traumatic experience of living in an a city with unstable security. One of the children present had been the victim of a kidnapping and subsequent torturing. However, when the candy, soccer balls and other Real Madrid material were distributed, the kids began smiling. Their smiles grew even larger when they started to examine their candy and discovered most of it had been sent directly from the United States. ¶6. Comment: The above event was a resounding success from all angles. The REO was able to organize an event free of political and religious strings during a period of not only a Provincial Council boycott of the British, but heightened tension and strife between the Shia and Sunni communities. More importantly, with the help of soccer great Zinedine Zidane, the REO was able to bring smiles to the faces of Iraqi children who have had little reason recently to be happy. End Comment. GROSS