IIRO SECRETARY-GENERAL TALKS OF SAUDI PROGRAMS AND

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 JEDDAH 000643

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/08/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KISL SA
SUBJECT: IIRO SECRETARY-GENERAL TALKS OF SAUDI PROGRAMS AND
EXPANSIONS

REF: A. RIYADH 6927

B. RIYADH 6467

Classified By: Acting Consul General CB Toney
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (S/NF) SUMMARY: In a meeting at the headquarters of the
International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) on September
18, Secretary-General Dr. Adnan Khalil Basha told PolOffs
that IIRO headquarters in Jeddah has administrative and
budgetary control of all 28 country branches and receives no
funding from the SAG, depending instead on donor
contributions. Funding is primarily limited to Saudi Arabia.
Dr. Adnan admitted to IIRO's inability to control potential
extremist lecturers at youth summer camps and said negative
public opinion of IIRO and its activities is a pervasive
problem. Dr. Adnan, who appeared to speak openly and
sincerely about the organization, focused his discussions on
IIRO's relief efforts, never addressing allegations of
terrorist financing or the recent 1267 designation of the
head of IIRO,s Eastern Province branch (reftels). END
SUMMARY.

--------------
Current Operations of IIRO
--------------


2. (C) IIRO began in 1978 as a non-governmental relief
organization working in poor, Islamic countries providing
humanitarian assistance, funding mosques and orphanages.
IIRO is a centralized organization that is headquartered in
Jeddah. All 28 country branches report directly to the
Jeddah office. According to Dr. Adnan, headquarters (HQ)
controls all budgets, programs, and personnel in countries of
operation -- even data entry of individual orphans is done at
the HQ level.


3. (C) Dr. Adnan stated that IIRO depends entirely on
donations to support its personnel and programs, receiving no
funding from the SAG. It has 13 offices in Saudi Arabia that
are used for fundraising purposes only. This funding is used
to support the approximately 200 Saudi staff, as well as
approximately 3,000 international staff. Dr. Adnan said
that, in some countries, IIRO partners with other
non-governmental organizations (NGO),local mosques, and UN
agencies, such as UNICEF, UNHCR, and WFP, for logistical and
programmatic support. IIRO's programs include disaster
relief, humanitarian assistance, health care, literacy
projects, scholarships, psychological counseling to trauma
victims, Islamic studies, and vocational training.


4. (C) Although IIRO claims to be a generic relief
organization, over 50 percent of its programming is
dedicated to orphans and orphanages. The Head of the
Orphanage Department at IIRO told PolOffs that IIRO
currently supports 55,000 individual orphans, mostly through
monthly payments, and said there are 92,000 more on a waiting
list. IIRO supports 13,000 orphans in Jordan, the largest
beneficiary of its orphan support program in the world.
(NOTE: IIRO defines orphan as a child under the age of 18 who
has lost one or both parents. END NOTE.) Donors, almost
entirely from Saudi Arabia, sponsor individual orphans and
receive updates every four months -- complete with the
orphan's photo, letter, and the child's school record.


5. (C) IIRO began programming in Saudi Arabia in 1998. It
currently supports 7,000 orphans throughout the Kingdom with
both Saudi and non-Saudi citizenship. The organization also
supports well water projects in rural
areas, as well as other similar development projects. It
provides secondary school and university scholarships to male
and female youth who are children of prisoners and of
HIV/AIDS patients. The scholarships are generally given for
private school tuition and include a wide range of subjects
in addition to Islamic studies and Arabic language programs.
One year ago, IIRO began working with AIDS patients at King
Saud Hospital. Since then, IIRO has issued the previously
noted scholarships, paid for medical care, provided financial
assistance to the families, and paid for several patients to
participate in the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. When
asked by PolOff about the draft bill being debated in the
Shoura Council regarding privacy for AIDS patients, Dr. Adnan
agreed that it is needed because Saudi society tends to
stigmatize AIDS victims. He commented that those with "the
curse" are in need of assistance from the Saudi community at
large. (NOTE: In order to protect AIDS patients' privacy,
IIRO identifies its beneficiaries by assigned numbers only.
END NOTE.)

JEDDAH 00000643 002 OF 003



--------------
Obstacles Facing IIRO
--------------


6. (C) Fundraising is done almost entirely in Saudi Arabia
through IIRO's 13 branch offices. The two most popular
programs are the construction of mosques in memory of a
relative, which costs 30,000 Saudi Riyals (approximately USD
8,000),and "adopting" an orphan, which generally costs 100
Saudi Riyals monthly approximately USD 27). However, Dr.
Adnan commented that illiteracy and lack of adequate health
care are much more pressing concerns. He stated that Muslims
can pray anywhere and do not need a mosque to do so --
feeding a family, he emphasized, is far more important than
building a mosque. He said that IIRO has trouble raising
adequate funds because it is difficult to convince the Saudi
public that there are pressing needs in this country too.
Additionally, when IIRO tries to partner with local
organizations abroad, they often scoff at the idea of
assisting a Saudi organization financially, because of the
assumption of a large base of wealthy donors.


7. (C) Negative public relations is also a pervasive problem
for IIRO. When questioned about IIRO's work with youth in
Saudi Arabia, Dr. Adnan talked about summer camps. He said
that the negative media reaction stemming from extremist
lectures, such as Sheikh al-Break's lecture this summer, is
unfortunate, but that no one can "guarantee 100 percent of
the time" that no extremists will enter the camps and attempt
to pass their ideologies on to the youth. He added that
provisions are made to ensure that IIRO's summer camps are
not subject to such lecturers, stating that the local
municipalities and the Ministry of Islamic Affairs vet both
the programs and the lecturers for all of IIRO's summer camps
inside Saudi Arabia (NOTE: Dr. Adnan said that there was no
such vetting process occurring in summer camps outside of
Saudi Arabia. END NOTE).

--------------
Projections for IIRO's Future
--------------


8. (C) Dr. Adnan suggested that, in ten years, IIRO will
most likely be operating in as many, if not more, locations
as it does now because of the rapidly increasing populations
in Islamic countries. He commented that government
corruption in many of these countries, along with a lack of
preparedness for this rapid population growth, will likely
ensure the need for increased humanitarian assistance in the
future. Dr. Adnan also predicted that IIRO's work in Saudi
Arabia would continue to expand over the course of the next
decade. In addition to population growth, he cited poor
health (specifically regarding HIV/AIDS and diabetes),lack
of democracy, and increasing numbers of prisoners as reasons
for the need to provide continued assistance to Saudi
Arabia's poorer communities.


9. (C) BIO NOTE: Dr. Adnan spoke excellent English with a
slight Arabic accent, but did not indicate where he learned
English. He is married and has one son and two daughters.
His son is a pediatric doctor in Canada. His middle child is
a dentist in Jeddah, and his youngest daughter is a nutrition
student a King Abdul Aziz University. Dr. Adnan has been
working as the Secretary-General for IIRO for ten years. He
said he plans to retire from IIRO next year. Prior to
joining IIRO he worked for the Muslim World League as
Assistant Secretary-General for Education and Culture for 20
years. END BIO NOTE.

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


10. (S/NF) Although PolOffs were initially greeted with
video cameras and tape recorders, this ritual "dog and pony
show" almost immediately ceased and a 'normalized' dialogue
ensued. Dr. Adnan shared information about the seemingly
secular, humanitarian programs of IIRO openly and without
making any mention of the recent UN 1267 designation of the
director of the Eastern Province branh (reftels).


11. (S/NF) At no time was there an discussion about how IIRO
sends funds to war-torn countries such as Somalia,
where IIRO admittedl does significant programming, or how
the funds re monitored to ensure that they are used for
fod, clothing, education, or shelter and nt diverted to
other activities. Additionally, Dr. Adnan did not mention

JEDDAH 00000643 003 OF 003


youth activities, such as summer camps in Saudi Arabia or
abroad, until directly questioned.


12. (S/NF) IIRO is clearly doing some much-needed charitable
work. However, the increased focus on its
reform-minded programming, such as AIDS and breast cancer
awareness programs, could well be driven by IIRO's need to
gain public and private support in the wake of ongoing
investigations and the recent 1267 designation of the
director of the Eastern Province branch. It seems highly
unlikely that its efforts reflect any positive ideological
shift. Oddly, the Secretary-General does not believe that
his organization should be held responsible for lectures
given at its own summer camps. Moreover, it is clear that
the IIRO,s charitable work is conducted with the intent of
spreading its extremely conservative Islamic values. END
COMMENT.

TONEY