KUWAIT PIONEERS ISLAMIC MODERATION MOVEMENT;

UNCLAS KUWAIT 001741

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR NEA/ARP; LONDON FOR LESLIE TSOU; PARIS FOR ZEYA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KIRF UK RS KU RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
SUBJECT: KUWAIT PIONEERS ISLAMIC MODERATION MOVEMENT;
CONFERENCES SCHEDULED FOR LONDON AND WASHINGTON

REF: A. KUWAIT 806


B. KUWAIT 882


1. (U) PolOff met Naser Mohammad Al-Ajmi, Secretary General
of the Higher Committee on Strengthening Moderation (known as
the Committee for Creating Programs and Plans Responsible for
Protecting Youth from the Phenomena of Deviant Behavior and
Religious Extremism until early 2006),on May 9 to discuss
the committee's activities. The GOK formed the
inter-governmental committee with representatives from the
ministries of Social Affairs and Labor, Interior, Education,
Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, and Information. The Ministry of
Awqaf is the lead agency on the Committee, and announced in a
March 11 press conference that its new five-year plan
includes the promotion of moderation as a key goal (ref B).


2. (SBU) The Moderation Committee has held two major
international conferences in Kuwait to support moderation and
religious tolerance: "Moderation: a Way of Living" in May
2005 and "We and the Other" in March 2006 (ref A). Al-Ajmi
said Kuwait will fund conferences in London in September
2006, in Washington in December 2006, and in Russia (date to
be determined),all under the patronage of Amir Shaykh Sabah
Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, to spread the idea of moderate Islam among
the Islamic community as well as to convey to Westerners that
Islam is a religion of moderation. Press reports on May 15
announced that the conference will be held in London this May
26-28, but Al-Ajmi told PolOff that the events in May are
preparatory meetings for the September conference.


3. (SBU) The committee has also commissioned several
studies. The first of these was set to come out May 13,
though its official release has been delayed. PolOff
received an unofficial draft from Al-Ajmi. The study
examines what causes youths to become extremists and includes
research from several Gulf countries. Its goal is to help
find ways of cutting off extremism at its roots. The
Committee has undertaken two information campaigns (October
2005 and April 2006) in Kuwaiti schools to try to steer
Kuwaiti children away from extremism. The campaigns received
extensive press coverage and Al-Ajmi said the response from
the students was enthusiastic.


4. (U) This September, the committee will also open the
World Moderation Center. Based in Kuwait and headed by
former Sudanese Minister of Islamic Affairs Esam Ahmad
Al-Basheer, the center will undertake training, translation
projects, academic studies and information campaigns, with a
special emphasis on electronic media, to support moderation
and fight extremism throughout the Islamic world.

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For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s

Visit Kuwait's Classified Website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/
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LEBARON