DENMARK AFTER EMBASSY BOMBING: "NO APOLOGIES"

C O N F I D E N T I A L COPENHAGEN 000327 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/06/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER DA SUBJECT: DENMARK AFTER EMBASSY BOMBING: "NO APOLOGIES" Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Sandra Kaiser, reasons 1.4 (b) a nd (d). ¶1. (C) Danish government leaders and politicians of all stripes here have responded with defiance to al-Qaeda's claim that it was responsible for the June 2 bombing of the Danish embassy in Islamabad. Prime Minister Rasmussen and Foreign Minister Moeller have stated publicly that Denmark will not apologize for the Mohammed cartoons and their re-printing earlier this year, al-Qaeda's suggested motive for the attack. While most Danish political parties have backed the PM and FM, the Islamabad attack and al-Qaeda's claim of responsibility have touched off a potentially contentious debate on the direction of Danish foreign policy. A few are asking whether Denmark in recent years has been too aggressive and too closely associated with the United States in pursuing Danish interests overseas. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) One of the biggest questions surrounding the June 2 car bomb attack on the Danish embassy in Islamabad was answered June 4 when al-Qaeda released a message from senior AQ associate Mustafa Abu al-Yazid claiming responsibility for the attack. Al-Yazid's message suggested the Islamabad attack was retaliation for caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed printed in Danish newspapers in 2006 and re-printed again earlier this year. The AQ missive further demanded that those responsible "apologize immediately." ¶3. (SBU) Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said there was no reason to doubt al-Qaeda's claim of responsibility, and he was quick and resolute in his response. Rasmussen vowed that there would be "no mention" of any apology for the Mohammed cartoons, adding that "I can say flat out that terrorists do not control the direction of Danish foreign policy." Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, in a metaphor that generated chuckles here, compared al-Qaeda to a garden slug infestation currently plaguing Denmark, saying "there are no snails in my garden. The snails can be stopped, and al-Qaeda can, too... We have to fight with hard power," said Moeller. Moeller also said there would be no apologies for Denmark's role in the Mohammed cartoon crisis. ¶4. (SBU) The government's line has received broad backing within the Danish parliament, with the largest opposition party, the Social Democrats, backing the FM and PM. When Social Liberal Party leader Margrethe Vestager asked Wednesday whether Islamabad wasn't an occasion to question the overall direction of Danish foreign policy, she was loudly condemned from nearly all corners of the Danish political world for raising that question so soon after the attack. Solidarity seems to be trumping other political instincts as Denmark grapples with how to respond to Islamabad. ¶5. (C) Danish concern is visceral. Our ministerial and law enforcement contacts believe Danish embassies are exposed and vulnerable to follow-up or copycat attacks. (We are working closely with those contacts to help them investigate and gather intelligence on the attack.) Al-Yazid's announcement has had the effect of keeping the policy debate, and the blame for and focus of the attack, squarely trained on al-Qaeda. However, there are some here who, like Vestager, are already asking whether Denmark has been too aggressive in promoting freedom of speech and human rights abroad, and whether it has done enough on Muslim integration at home. Some of these voices are already suggesting, quietly for now, that Danish policy initiatives have been too aggressive, too high-profile, and too closely identified with the United States. Pakistan's ambassador to Denmark raised eyebrows here this week when, after apologizing for the Islamabad attack, she directed a harsh rhetorical question at the Danish newspaper that published the Mohammed cartoons, "Are you satisfied now?" Other critics point to Danish involvement in Afghanistan as a continuing danger for Danish interests at home and overseas. One prominent Danish CEO (whose company, Grundfos, recently had one of its subsidiaries blacklisted by the UN for involvement in the Iraq oil-for-food scandal) asked today whether Islamabad was not a sign that Denmark's forward-leaning foreign policy is hurting the country's commercial interests. Once the immediacy and shock of the Islamabad attack fade, Danish politicians may have to work harder to maintain the consensus that has underpinned Denmark's ambitious foreign policy agenda. For now, though, Denmark remains defiant. CAIN