KUWAIT ISLAMIC AFFAIRS MINISTRY VISITS U.S. TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 003167 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/IIP, AND S/CT, LONDON FOR TSOU, PARIS FOR ZEYA E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/06/2016 TAGS: PHUM KIRF PTER KU SUBJECT: KUWAIT ISLAMIC AFFAIRS MINISTRY VISITS U.S. TO PREPARE FOR CONFERENCE FOR AMERICAN MUSLIMS REF: A. KUWAIT 2257 ¶B. KUWAIT 1934 ¶C. KUWAIT 1741 ¶D. KUWAIT 806 ¶E. 05 KUWAIT 263 Classified By: CDA Matthew Tueller for reasons 1.4(b) and (d) ¶1. (C/NF) PolOff met Saad Al-Hajji, Director of the Family Development Department at the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs (MAIA) as well as the Barirah program to raise awareness about domestic labor (ref B),on August 6 to discuss FALCon, Post's anti-TIP ESF project (ref E). Al-Hajji mentioned that he had just returned from the United States, where he had been on an advance visit to prepare for the next installment in Kuwait's series of international conferences to promote moderation in Islam (ref A). (Note: The GOK convened a successful conference in London in May. Future conferences are planned for Russia and China. End Note.) The MAIA plans to hold the conference on November 10th or 17th in either Chicago or Washington, though they are leaning towards Washington. The conference will bring together representatives of the Muslim communities in America, including Arab and non-Arab, Shi'a and Sunni. He emphasized that the GOK will vet all participants with the USG. The conference will be closed to outside participants, as it is designed to get Muslims in America to think about what messages they want to convey to the USG. Al-Hajji emphasized that Kuwait is organizing the conference and providing financing for it, but not directly trying to influence the message. He noted that in 2007 another conference will be held in the U.S. with the purpose of conveying the message agreed upon in this year's conference to the USG and American public. ¶2. (C/NF) Comment: Al-Hajji, who had never been to the U.S. and who speaks very little English, noted that he was wary about going to the U.S. and was anxious about what he might hear from the Muslim communities there. He was extremely impressed with the religious freedom Muslims enjoy in America and said that what he had heard previously was completely at odds with the reports of Muslim communities he met with in New York, Washington, Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles. This underscores the extent to which Arabic media misrepresent the U.S. as well as the benefit of bringing foreign officials to the United States to see the country with their own eyes. Post has organized two well-received IVLPs on religious tolerance for MAIA officials, is actively pursuing with MAIA another Single Country IVLP, and recommends that such programs be expanded. End Comment. ********************************************* * 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/ ********************************************* * TUELLER