LEADER OF MALIAN HAMALLIYYA DISCUSSES AQIM

UNCLAS BAMAKO 000288 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KISL SOCI PTER ML SUBJECT: LEADER OF MALIAN HAMALLIYYA DISCUSSES AQIM REF: 07 BAMAKO 01170 1.(U) On March 7 Emboffs traveled to Nioro du Sahel, on Mali's western border with Mauritania, to meet two of Mali's most important Sufi religious leaders: Amadou Hady Tall, the Khalif General of Malian Tidjani Muslims; and Mohamed Ould Cheikhna, the Sherif of Malian Hamallist Muslims. As the seat of Mali's two main Sufi traditions, the quiet town of Nioro holds as much, if not more, religious importance for contemporary Malians than the larger and more celebrated religious centers of Djenne and Timbuktu (Ref A). While Djenne and Timbuktu are known for their historical importance and mud-brick mosques, tens of thousands of Malians make pilgrimages to Nioro - not Timbuktu or Djenne - each year for a chance to glimpse the living leaders of Malian Islam. 2.(SBU) Both Tall and Cheikhna have proved to be exceedingly open to the U.S. Embassy. As the leader of Mali's Hamalliyya Sufi order, Cheikhna moves through Nioro with an entourage that consists of his numerous adult children, many devoted followers and new vehicles sent by adherents throughout the world. During this visit, he was using a new Land Cruiser with UAE plates and a new Lincoln sedan with Ohio vanity plates that read "Sahara C" - possibly short for "Sahara Cherif". 3.(U) During an hour long meeting with EmbOffs, Cheikhna noted that while Djenne and Timbuktu offer history and old buildings, only in Nioro can one speak with the living leaders of Mali's Islamic traditions. He offered, unprompted, his views on the recent killing by AQIM of French tourists in southern Mauritania. As a speaker of Hasaniya (a language akin to Arabic common in Mauritania and Northern Mali),Chiekhna is culturally closer to Mauritania than to Mali. Chiekhna said those guilty of killing the French tourists were not Muslims and that he was concerned about the number of individuals encouraging violence in the name of Islam. These people, said Chiekhna, do not know the Koran and are not Muslims. 4.(U) Cheikhna's family history adds weight to his opinions of AQIM and radical Islam. During the 1930s and 40s the French exiled Cheikhna's father and executed several of his brothers in the town of Yelimane in western Mali. Cheikhna said the appeal of the Hamallist Sufi order across Mali stems, in large part, from his father's peaceful response to French colonial persecution. Non-violence and respect for the lives of others is therefore a key tenet of Cheikhna and his followers' interpretation of Islam. MCCULLEY