OIC SPECIAL ENVOY MEETS WITH SENEGALESE FOREIGN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 000500

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR IO/UNP, EUR/SCE, NEA/IAP, AND AF/W

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL KISL OIC IS SY KV SG
SUBJECT: OIC SPECIAL ENVOY MEETS WITH SENEGALESE FOREIGN
MINISTER

REF: DAKARA 496

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Jay T. Smith for reasons 1.5 B/D


1. (C) Summary: On April 22 Special Envoy to the
Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Sada Cumber,
accompanied by Charge and political counselor, met with
Senegalese Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidane Gadio to discuss
his country,s new role as chair of the 57-nation OIC
following Senegal,s hosting of the OIC summit in March.
Special Envoy Cumber shared with the Foreign Minister his
plan for supporting the OIC,s initiatives and the MOU he
hopes to sign with the OIC Secretary General (SG). Gadio
complemented the United States for creating the special envoy
position and Special Envoy Cumber on his proposals to assist
the OIC,s development initiatives. He urged President Bush
to invite the OIC SG and Senegal,s president to the White
house and for the three of them, along with the Special
Envoy, to speak out publicly about the importance of holding
an Islamo-Judeo-Christian dialogue. End summary.

U.S. Support for OIC Initiatives
--------------


2. (SBU) Special Envoy Cumber met with Foreign Minister
Gadio after having met with Senegalese President Abdoulaye
Wade. He congratulated Senegal on the success of the OIC
Summit. He told Foreign Minister Gadio that he hoped to work
closely with President Wade and OIC Secretary General
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu explaining that the his role as OIC
Special Envoy was not only to act as the U.S. representative
to the OIC, its members, and Muslim communities in non-OIC
countries, but also to oversee U.S. support for the OIC,s
initiatives. Special Envoy Cumber shared with Gadio the
draft MOU that he hoped to sign with SG Ihsanoglu and
outlined the three areas on which the United States would
focus -- science and technology, enhancing the status of
women, and education ) emphasizing that these themes were
drawn from the OIC,s initiatives. Moreover, he informed
Gadio of his plan to establish a digital library in the ten
poorest OIC member countries.

The Importance of Senegalese Leadership as OIC Chair
-------------- --------------


3. (C) The Special Envoy emphasized the U.S. desire to be
supportive of the OIC,s own initiatives and stressed the USG
does not wish to impose anything on the OIC and its members.
He asked Gadio for his guidance and support. The OIC members
would benefit greatly from President Wade,s leadership and
experience, he said, urging the Senegalese President to size
the opportunity of OIC chairmanship to steer the OIC members
in the same moderate direction that Senegal has followed.

U.S. Muslims as Role Model for Muslim World
--------------


4. (C) Special Envoy Cumber noted the positive example the
more than five million Muslims in the United States could
serve for the world,s Muslims. He emphasized that although
there was great philosophical, cultural, and national
diversity in the U.S. Muslim population there was also great
harmony. This combination of diversity and harmony should
serve as a model for the diverse groups of Muslims in the
world, he said.

Islamic-Christian Dialogue or &Three Revealed Religions8
-------------- --------------


5. (C) In addition, Special Envoy Cumber informed Foreign
Minister Gadio of his plan to organize a summit at the White
House with heads of the 10-15 largest Muslim development NGOs
and expressed support for President Wade,s proposal to
organize a dialogue between the West and the Muslim world.
During the Special Envoy,s meeting with President Wade
(reftel),Wade emphasized that the dialogue should be an
Islamic-Christian dialogue not a Islamo-Judeo-Christian
dialogue as proposed by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.
Gadio, however, opined that there was not enough time left in
President Bush,s term to organize a dialogue and instead
asked the Special Envoy to urge President Bush to invited
President Wade and the OIC SG to the White House to speak
about the importance of openness and tolerance, suggesting
that their comments could be geared toward the three revealed
religions along the lines of Saudi King Abdullah,s proposal
for an Islamo-Judeo-Chrsitian dialogue.


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6. (C) Gadio urged the United States to take advantage of
the Senegalese chairmanship of the OIC. He said that Senegal
would be working closely with the OIC SG during the next
three years. President Wade and the OIC SG both have the
vision and openness necessary to make a difference, he
argued. He suggested that the United States take on the
problem of &Islamophobia,8 which was one of the themes
addressed at this year,s OIC summit. While commenting that
he personally was not worried about this phenomenon, he
observed that many Muslims are convinced that Islamophobia is
widespread. By tackling this issue head on, it would endear
the United States to many in the Muslim world, he asserted.

Recognition of Kosovo
--------------


7. (C) Special Envoy Cumber urged Foreign Minister Gadio to
use his influence to persuade OIC members to recognize
Kosovo. Gadio responded that Senegal had worked to convince
many OIC members before the summit. He reported that several
Arab countries asked rhetorically why is acceptable for the
Kosovars to declare independence, but the same is not true
for the Palestinians. When asked about the Africa bloc,
Gadio said that many African countries did not feel
particularly close to the issue and that they expressed
concerns about setting a dangerous precedent for separatist
movements given the artificial nature of Africa,s colonially
derived borders. According to Gadio, Qatar, Kuwait, and
others indicated before the summit that they were prepared to
recognize Kosovo before the summit, but failed to do so. He
undertook to contact them and Gabon to urge them to do so
now. Gadio also promised to work on persuading other
countries in the Africa bloc to recognize Kosovo.

Comment
--------------


8. (C) While President Wade seemed to have difficulties in
separating his roles as chair of the OIC and president of
Senegal when he met with the Special Envoy, his Foreign
Minister clearly believes that Senegal can have a significant
impact on the OIC members and the Muslim world during its
three-year chairmanship. Moreover, he clearly believes it is
in the mutual interest of the United States and Senegal to
take advantage of this window of opportunity. Senegal,s
history as tolerant, moderate society with a large Muslim
majority and a dynamic Catholic minority and its heretofore
relatively successful democratic institutions marry up nicely
with the Special Envoy,s message about religious harmony and
diversity in the United States serving as a model for the
Muslim world. Moreover, if President Bush were to take up
the Foreign Minister,s suggestion of a White House summit
with President Wade and the OIC SG, there is little doubt
that President Wade, who craves the spotlight of the world
stage would, would do his best to promote such a move among
the OIC members.


11. (U) This cable was cleared by Special Envoy Sada Cumber.
SMITH