TERRORISM FINANCE: MA'ARIF EDUCATION FOUNDATION

S E C R E T JAKARTA 005778 SIPDIS SIPDIS TREASURY FOR JPHILIPP STATE FOR EAP/MTS; EAP/RSP; EB/EFC/TFS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/08/2016 TAGS: KTFN EFIN PTER PREL ID SUBJECT: TERRORISM FINANCE: MA'ARIF EDUCATION FOUNDATION REF: SECSTATE 71549 Classified By: Econ Officer Tobias Glucksman. Reason: 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (S) The Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) education office tells us that the Sidoarjo-based Yayasan Pendidikan Ma'arif (the Ma'arif Educational Foundation) has no links to the al Ma'arif Education Foundation in the Philippines (reftel). "Ma'arif" means "learning" or "knowledge" in Arabic, and thousands of Indonesian schools use the word in their names. NU receives funding from many sources, but we have no knowledge of links to Philippine-based funding. ¶2. (U) Surabaya Principal Officer visited the Yayasan Pendidikan Ma'arif in the Surabaya suburb of Sidoarjo, May 1, to watch distribution of USAID-donated book bags to young Indonesian Muslim students. The project teams the USG and Indonesia's two largest Muslim organizations, NU and Muhammadiyah. NU International Relations head Rozy Munir and East Java NU chairman Ali Maschan Moesa, among other prominent NU figures, participated. ¶3. (S) Given the prevalence of "ma'arif" in the names of local educational organizations, Washington might consider stating in USG statements re the al Ma'arif Education Foundation in the Philippines that we have no evidence linking it to other organizations with similar names here. PASCOE