AMBASSADOR MEETS LOCAL ISLAMIC LEADERS, WHO

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAGUA 000725 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/27/2036 TAGS: PREL KPAL PTER KIRF NU SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR MEETS LOCAL ISLAMIC LEADERS, WHO PROCLAIM DESIRE FOR GOOD RELATIONS WITH USG REF: A. STATE 50417 ¶B. FEBRUARY 10-13 BAIRD-DAVIS-SMITH EMAILS ¶C. MANAGUA 348 Classified By: AMBASSADOR PAUL TRIVELLI. REASONS 1.4 (B,D). ¶1. (C) NOTE: The meetings described below that included the Palestinian Ambassador to Nicaragua took place prior to the receipt of reftel A by Embassy Managua. Prior to the Palestinian Ambassador's February courtesy call on the Ambassador and the subsequent March 28 breakfast with local Islamic leaders at which the Palestinian Ambassador was present, post received approval for such limited contacts from NEA/IPA via email (ref. B). With the new policy described in reftel A now in effect, post will end all such contacts with the Palestinian Ambassador. END NOTE. ¶2. (C) SUMMARY: On March 28, the Ambassador hosted a breakfast with Palestinian Ambassador Walid Ibrahim Mauqqat and a half-dozen representatives of the local Muslim community, which is primarily of Palestinian origins. The local Islamic leaders are well connected to the Nicaraguan political elite but several are involved in various illicit activities, including money laundering, smuggling of goods and people, and perhaps fund raising for possibly violent Palestinian groups. However, they also proclaim themselves to be "moderates" who seek good relations and cooperation with the Embassy and they promised the Ambassador to report any "suspicious individuals" transiting Nicaragua and seeking cover in their community. END SUMMARY. ISLAMIC COMMUNITY SMALL BUT WELL CONNECTED...AND INVOLVED IN ALL SORTS OF ILLICIT ACTIVITIES - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶3. (C) When Ambassador Mauqqat paid a courtesy call on the Ambassador shortly after taking up his post in Managua earlier this year, he welcomed the Ambassador's suggestion of organizing a meeting with representatives of the local Islamic community. Mauqqat subsequently provided a list of men to invite, including Fahmi Mohamed Hassan, President of the Nicaraguan Islamic Cultural Center, and businessmen Adli Musa Farhood, Ismat Khatib, Mazen Sharif Othman, Khader Samara, and Yamal Shihab. All of these individuals are well connected politically and are involved in both legitimate and illicit activities in Nicaragua, Central America, and Jordan. Their illegal activities include money laundering, the smuggling of goods and people, and (reportedly) fund raising for Hamas and other possibly violent Palestinian organizations. ¶4. (C) When the breakfast meeting started, Ambassador Mauqqat stated that there are approximately 1500 people of Palestinian origin residing in Nicaragua. Some of these are Christians whose ancestors arrived in the country in the early twentieth century and are fully integrated into Nicaraguan society. Most Muslim Palestinians arrived more recently, although many of the community's leaders have lived here for thirty years or more. Some of the younger ones were born in Nicaragua. According to Ambassador Mauqqat, virtually all of these Palestinian Muslims are Sunni. (NOTE: Previous estimates suggested approximately 300 Muslims resident in Nicaragua, but the real number is almost certainly larger.) COMMUNITY BUILDING A NEW MOSQUE AND ISLAMIC SCHOOL - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶5. (C) The Ambassador's guests reported that their Islamic cultural center possesses formal legal standing ("Personeria Juridica") approved by the National Assembly. Such legal standing is required for any church or other non-governmental organization to operate in Nicaragua and is routinely granted by the Assembly. The group has operated a mosque out of a converted private residence for many years, and its leaders reported that they are now constructing a new mosque and plan to establish an Islamic school to provide both religious instruction and teach Arabic to the children of community members. When the Ambassador asked about the mosque's Imam, the local Islamic leaders stated that he is a 24-year old Jordanian recruited by the Nicaraguan Islamic cultural center and brought here with his wife. ¶6. (C) While Nicaraguan law allows religious organizations with official legal standing to seek tax exonerations for expenses associated with their religious activities, the local Islamic leaders stated that they had not yet taken the bureaucratic steps to obtain such exoneration. The fact that the local Islamic business community, represented by these same men, is notorious for its ability to avoid taxes for all its activities suggests that the group has seen no need for dealing with the GON bureaucracy to obtain official tax exempt status for religious activities when it already enjoys de facto tax immunity for everything. ISLAMIC REPRESENTATIVES PROCLAIM SELVES "MODERATES" AND PROMISE TO REPORT SUSPICIOUS INDIVIDUALS TRANSITING NICARAGUA - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶7. (C) Ambassador Mauqqat and the local Islamic community representatives proclaimed a desire for good relations and regular contact with the Embassy. They portrayed themselves and their community as "moderates" who enjoy good relations with the GON, other religious denominations, and Nicaraguan society as a whole. They claimed that Palestinian Christians and Palestinian Muslims resident in Nicaragua enjoy close relations and participate regularly in one another's social activities. ¶8. (C) The local Islamic representatives stated that their community is small enough that any outsider passing through Nicaragua and seeking cover or support in the local community would be detected immediately. Although several of the individuals present at the breakfast are active migrant smugglers, the group promised the Ambassador that if suspicious or dangerous individuals pass through Nicaragua and come to their attention, they will alert both the Nicaraguan police and the Embassy. CLOSE CONNECTIONS TO BOTH PLC AND FSLN LEADERS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶9. (C) Many of the most prominent members of the Islamic business community have developed close personal and business ties to leaders of both of the traditional political parties, the Liberal Constitutional Party (PLC) and the Sandinistas (FSLN),and use these connections to avoid paying taxes, having to register their businesses, or having their imports and exports inspected. Such connections also facilitate their migrant smuggling and other illicit activities. As businessmen, most seemed to incline towards the PLC and many have been in Nicaragua long enough to have bad memories of 1980s FSLN economic mismanagement, but the group emphasized to the Ambassador that, as businessmen, they have to develop good relations and do business with the entire political spectrum. Some are known to have cultivated close ties with Lenin Cerna, the former Director of State Security and Daniel Ortega's chief political "fixer." COMMENT - - - - ¶10. (C) Ambassador Mauqqat has only been in Nicaragua for a few months, but he already appears to have developed a clear leadership role in the local Palestinian Muslim community, and he seems to be living up to his reputation (reftel C) as a much more refined, pragmatic diplomat than his dogmatic predecessor. Although all of the local Islamic leaders are involved to varying degrees in a wide variety of illegal activities, if post is to have any access to and influence on the community, some interaction with its leaders could prove useful. As the community grows, builds a real mosque and an Islamic school, such contacts will only become more important. TRIVELLI