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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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