Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ULAANBAATAR489
2007-08-28 05:56:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ulaanbaatar
Cable title:  

Mongolia's Muslim Minority Reaches Out

Tags:  EINV PREL ETRD PGOV ECON PHUM PINR MG 
pdf how-to read a cable
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RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
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RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ULAANBAATAR 000489 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE PASS USTR, USTDA, OPIC, AND EXIMBANK
STATE FOR EAP/CM
USAID FOR ANE FOR D. WINSTON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EINV PREL ETRD PGOV ECON PHUM PINR MG
SUBJECT: Mongolia's Muslim Minority Reaches Out

REFTEL (A) ULAANBAATAR 454, (B) 06 ULAANBAATAR 237

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ULAANBAATAR 000489

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE PASS USTR, USTDA, OPIC, AND EXIMBANK
STATE FOR EAP/CM
USAID FOR ANE FOR D. WINSTON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EINV PREL ETRD PGOV ECON PHUM PINR MG
SUBJECT: Mongolia's Muslim Minority Reaches Out

REFTEL (A) ULAANBAATAR 454, (B) 06 ULAANBAATAR 237

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Despite dismal economic conditions, leaders of
Mongolia's Muslim/Kazakh minority in the western province of Bayan
Ulgii dismiss fears of Islamic radicalism taking root within their
ranks, and say they feel no undue pressure from far-off Ulaanbaatar,
even though they are under constant scrutiny from the country's
security and intelligence agencies. Mongolia's Muslims have
traditionally maintained strong ties to moderate Islamic communities
in Turkey, but are now broadening outreach efforts to other Islamic
countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
They are also looking for U.S. Embassy and NGO support in
alleviating the economic hardship that their congregants face. END
SUMMARY.


2. (U) As part of the Embassy's continuing outreach to Mongolia's
Muslim population, Econoff and Econ Assistant recently toured Bayan
Ulgii province and met with four leading figures: Mongolia's leading
Muslim cleric, Mufti Shirkhan; the treasurer of the Islamic
congregation, Sovietkhan; the director of Ulgii's Islamic school,
Salekh; and the person in charge of public relations and faith
promotion, Idress. Bayan Ulgii, the westernmost province bordering
Russia, China and just 25 miles from Kazakhstan, is home to between
100,000 and 150,000 ethnic Khazakh Sunni Muslims (out of a national
population of roughly 2.6 million). Most reside in the regional
capital of Ulgii.


3. (U) Mongolia's Islamic leaders said they are pleased with their
interactions with the U.S. Embassy in Ulaanbaatar and were happy to
meet with the Charge during his recent travels through the area (ref
A; ref B provides an overview of Islam in Mongolia),and again when
they traveled to the capital for their national Muslim conference.

NO THREAT OF RADICALIZATION SEEN

--------------


4. (SBU) It is an open secret that Mongolia's intelligence and
security agencies vigilantly monitor the activities of Bayan Ulgii's
Muslim/Kazakh minority, citing it as a potential source of homegrown
terrorist or separatist activity. Nevertheless, Mufti Shirkhan
reported that they have good relations with Ulaanbaatar and do not
feel repressed by the central government. (Note: Similarly,
discrimination from non-Muslim Mongolians does not appear to be an
issue for Mongolia's ethnic Kazakhs. On August 9, Sairaan Kader, a
Democratic Party MP and founder of the Mongolian Muslim Society,
told us that Mongolian Muslims do not suffer discrimination,
although they are concerned about aggressive proselytizing by
foreign Christian missionaries. End Note.) Mufti Shirkhan said
fears of Islamic radicalism sprouting from western Mongolia are
unfounded. Given the small-town nature of the Islamic communities
sprinkled throughout the province, any wayward activity would be
easily spotted and quickly controlled, he said. He added that
Mongolia hosts no foreign clerics who might sow radical ideas.
During the 1990s, Ulgii's Muslims brought in a series of moderate
clerics from Turkey to help revive the faith after decades of
communist suppression, cementing a special bond between the two
country's Islamic communities that continues today.

AFTER-SCHOOL RELIGIOUS CLASSES
--------------


5. (SBU) According to Salekh, the director of Ulgii's Islamic
school, around 100 students attend after-school religion classes at
the mosque's facility. Few students go beyond this basic religious
training, he said, but each year one or two go overseas to further

ULAANBAATA 00000489 002 OF 002


their religious studies, usually to Turkey. A very small number, he
said, have gone on to study in other countries such as Pakistan and
Saudi Arabia.

ECONOMIC WOES CONTINUE
--------------


6. (U) Economic conditions in Bayan Ulgii remain dismal, with
unemployment running well over 30 percent and per capita GDP
registering just over $500, half the national average. The dire
economic situation has not only left some ethnic Kazakhs feeling
ignored by the central government (septel),it challenges the
leadership of the province's Islamic community. Mufti Shirkhan said
congregants often approach the mosque for financial assistance, but
he conceded that the community lacks sufficient resources to meet
their obligations under Zakat, or alms-giving. Instead, the mosque
has begun to examine ways to help congregants help themselves.
Mukti Shirkhan announced plans to establish a mosque-linked
English-language school, and directly solicited Econoff for
financial assistance in getting the idea off the ground. Equipping
Ulgii's Muslims with better English skills would give them more
opportunities to find well-paying jobs, he said. (Note: Embassy
Ulaanbaatar organized a three-week English summer camp for ethnic
Kazakh high-school students in June and July, under the Bureau of
Educational and Cultural Affairs' English Access Microscholarship
program. We will repeat the camp next year. End Note.)

ASSISTANCE SOUGHT
--------------


7. (U) The Mufti also sought Econoff's assistance in establishing
links with local branches of NGOs such as World Vision and USAID's
Ger Initiative, in the hope of applying their economic-assistance
programs to the Muslim community. (Note: Econoff encouraged the
Muslim leaders to approach the organizations on their own, but later
shared Mufti's ideas with the local Ger Initiative office, which
said it would follow up).


8. (U) Community leaders reported that they are planning to build a
new mosque in Ulgii's city center, close to the river, with
financial assistance from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates. Although the community is proud of its increasing
connections with international Islam - moves aimed at helping the
province overcome its relative isolation -- the leaders told us that
they have had little interaction with high-level visitors to
Mongolia from Islamic countries, with the recent exception of the
Emir of Kuwait (reftel A). (NOTE: Community leaders also sought
points of contact for American Muslim organizations.)
MINTON