PEACEFUL PROTEST AGAINST UK DENIAL OF VISA FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000156

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/21/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KISL KIRF QA UK
SUBJECT: PEACEFUL PROTEST AGAINST UK DENIAL OF VISA FOR
SHEIKH AL-QARADAWI IN DOHA

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Michael A. Ratney,
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: A peaceful demonstration of about 300 people
took place February 20 in front of the British Embassy in
Doha. The demonstrators protested the denial of a visa for
Qatari-based Islamic scholar Sheikh Yusef Al-Qaradawi to
travel to the UK. The protesters lambasted the "hypocrisy"
of the UK Government which, they maintained, on one hand
preaches freedom and democracy and on the other hand refuses
the entry of a Muslim who "only wishes to meet with other
Muslims and to attend conferences." Contrary to public
statements that Al-Qaradawi was not notified of the reason
for his visa's denial, the British Embassy told Poloff he was
denied entry because the Government of the UK "disagrees with
his public statements on terrorism and his homophobic and
anti-Semitic views" and Al-Qaradawi was fully informed of
this. End Summary.


2. (U) Advertisements in local newspapers February 19
announced that a "silent protest" would be held on February
20 spotlighting the refusal of the British Embassy in Doha to
issue a medical visa (see para 7) for Doha-based Islamic
scholar Sheikh Yusef Al-Qaradawi. The advertisement noted
that the protest was "against the continuous and vicious
campaign directed at the pioneer of moderation and
tolerance." British charge d'affaires Roddy Drummond told
the press: "We recognize people's right to protest
peacefully and we have no problem about that." Drummond
noted that the denial "was a decision by the British
Government and the reason was conveyed to Qaradawi."


3. (SBU) The protest was organized by Al-Qaradawi's
"Solidarity Committee." Members of the committee are not
publicly identified, but its most prominent members are
former Qatari Justice Minister Dr. Najeeb Al-Nuaimi and
Sheikh Mohiyuddin Quradaghi, an Islamic scholar and professor
at Qatar University, who is a close associate of Al-Qaradawi.
As requested, protestors began to gather in an area some
distance from the British Embassy at 15:00 local time.


4. (U) Before leading the Asser prayer, Quradaghi delivered a
speech to the gathering crowd arguing that the beneficiaries
of the British Government's decision were "extremists on both
sides." He said the protest was symbolic in nature and
represented the views of both Qataris and expatriates. He
stated that the protest was in support of a principle, not a
person. "We are here to support justice and fairness called
on by Western democracies. You cannot punish someone for his
opinions and it seems the UK, the mother of all democracies,
dropped its principles at the first test," he declared. He
added that both the UK and the U.S. had repeatedly failed the
test of tolerance and freedom of expression during the past
few years when tested by the Arab and Muslim sides." He
questioned why Muslims in both countries are denied the right
to hear directly from Muslim scholars of all nations and
nationalities. After the prayer, Quradaghi directed the
protesters to line up and march to the British Embassy.


5. (SBU) An Embassy FSN observing the protest estimated the
crowd numbered between 300 and 350, approximately 70 of whom
were women and children. Based on their dress and dialect, a
large majority of the group were Arab expatriates, primarily
from Egypt, including a sizable contingent of Qatar
University professors, lawyers and Imams. Qatari
participants were estimated to number fewer than 10. The
protesters held banners in Arabic and English that read:
"Mr. Brown, why are you rejecting tolerance and dialogue?"
and "Yes for freedom of movement, no for discrimination of
movement."


6. (U) Although the protest was billed as "silent," once the
group reached the front gate of the British Embassy, women in
the crowd began to shout slogans. The men joined in
chanting: "Be fair and don't follow Tony Blair;" "Be fair
with Muslims;" and "Justice now, justice now, no East, no
West, Qaradawi is always fair."


7. (U) On behalf of the protesters, Najeeb Al-Nuaimi,
escorted by police officers, walked into the UK Embassy and
deliverd a petition to the British DCM urging London to
reconsider its decision. After exiting the Embassy,
Al-Nuaimi told the crowd that the DCM had assured him that
the petition would be sent to the British Foreign Office and
the petitioners would receive a reply. According to
Al-Nuaimi, Al-Qaradawi was never informed of the reason for
the denial of his visa. Contrary to protest announcements
noting that the visa was sought for medical reasons,
Al-Nuaimi said the purpose of Al-Qaradawi's visit to the UK
was to meet Muslims and attend conferences. He lamented that

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Qatar had allowed the establishment of Christian churches,
despite some Qataris' reservations, but that London could not
tolerate one moderate Muslim scholar to visit for a few days.
He called on the Government of Qatar to adopt a principle of
reciprocity with the UK by preventing British priests from
preaching in Qatar's churches. At precisely 16:00, Quradaghi
told protesters that their mission was complete and that they
were invited to attend Friday's prayer at Omar Ibn Al-Khatab
mosque to listen to him speak about the incident. The crowd
dispersed peacefully.


8. (C) The British Poloff told us February 21 that
Al-Qaradawi was definitely informed of the reason for the
denial of his visa. While noting that it is the policy of
the Foreign Office not to make such information public, he
shared with us that his visa application was denied because,
"the Government of the UK disagrees with Al-Qaradawi's
statements about terrorism and because of his homophobic and
anti-Semitic views." He also noted that the UK, under its
laws, may "exclude anyone who supports or incites violence
and terrorism."


9. (C) Comments: We believe the British Embassy, in
welcoming this peaceful protest and giving Al-Qaradawi's
supporters a fair hearing, underscored the usual absence of
peaceful protests in Qatar. We also note that only a handful
of Qatari citizens attended the protest, as the vast majority
of protesters appeared to be resident expatriates. By
deliberately concealing the reason for the visa's denial,
Al-Qaradawi was seeking to garner public support for playing
the "religion card" against
government policies of the U.S. and UK.
RATNEY