MUSLIM ORGANIZATION OFFERS ASSISTANCE ON KOREAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 002228 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, S/CT, SCA, EAP/MLS, INR/EAP E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/15/2017 TAGS: PREL KISL PTER ID AF PK KS QA SUBJECT: MUSLIM ORGANIZATION OFFERS ASSISTANCE ON KOREAN HOSTAGES Classified By: Joseph L. Novak, Counselor for Political Affiars, for re asons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) Pol/C met August 15 with Rozy Munir, Indonesia's Ambassador-designate to Qatar. Munir is currently a senior Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) official and chairman of its international relations committee. NU, a mainstream group, is Indonesia's largest mass-Muslim organization with an estimated 35 million followers. ¶2. (C) Munir related that NU had recently received faxes and letters from Muslim organizations based in South Korea requesting NU's assistance re the hostage situation in Afghanistan. In response, the NU leadership had held separate meetings with the South Korean and Pakistani ambassadors and an Afghan diplomat based in Jakarta. NU had used the meetings to underscore its willingness to help in any way possible. In addition, NU had been in touch with various Muslim organizations in Pakistan urging that the situation be resolved peacefully, with the hostages returned to safety. NU, he hastened to add, did not have links to Pakistani or Afghan groups with close ties to the Taliban. ¶3. (C) He told Pol/C that NU wanted to offer its services to the USG in case NU could assist in any way. Pol/C thanked Munir for the information, commenting that it would be sent to Washington. (Note: NU has also issued public statements urging that the Taliban release the hostages, though Hasyim Muzadi, the NU Chair, was also quoted as stating that in his view the hostage situation hinged on the U.S. response. Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's other large Muslim organization, has also called for the release of the hostages. End Note.) ¶4. (U) Bio Notes: Munir, age 64, is from East Java(will take up his post in Qatar in October, having recently received agrement from the Qatari government(received Master of Science in Public Health from the University of Hawaii in 1977(speaks good, accented English(seeks to establish a good relationship with the US Embassy in Doha(previously chaired center for research on development at University of Indonesia(State Minister for State-Owned Enterprises under former President Abdurrahman Wahid(closer to Wahid than to current NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi(has three children(his father was a prominent cleric and NU member. HUME