ENGAGING THE OIC: A STRATEGY FOR THE NEW SPECIAL

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 JEDDAH 000088

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

RIYADH PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN; DEPARTMENT FOR HERRO MUSTAFA
IN P, ANDREW STEINFELD IN NEA/ARP, AND IO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/11/2028
TAGS: PREL PHUM KISL KPAL SG SA
SUBJECT: ENGAGING THE OIC: A STRATEGY FOR THE NEW SPECIAL
ENVOY

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Classified By: Consul General Tatiana C. Gfoeller for Reasons 1.4(b) an
d (d)


1. (S) SUMMARY: Building on Post's unprecedented and
steadily increasing interaction with the OIC during the past
two years, Post has learned much of OIC Secretary General
Ihsanoglu's intentions and how he has shaped and will
continue to influence the OIC agenda. During his tenure,
Ihsanoglu has focused on raising the OIC's profile as well as
tackling issues (e.g. fostering intra-OIC trade, addressing
"Islamophobia," and combating terrorism) outlined in the
OIC's 2005 Ten-Year Program of Action. The upcoming 11th OIC
Summit in Dakar will be the first OIC Summit at which Heads
of State will gather since the OIC presented its Ten-Year
Program of Action and will include a review of the 1969 OIC
Charter. As a result, the OIC will continue campaigning
strongly to present the OIC as a moderate institution with an
Islamic perspective while pursuing internal reform.
Regarding cooperation with the U.S., Ihsanoglu and other
high-level OIC officials have expressed consistently to the
Ambassador and the Consul General a keen desire to work more
closely with the U.S. Government in general, and an Envoy, in
particular. END SUMMARY.

MAKING THE OIC RELEVANT ON THE WORLD STAGE


2. (S) Elected OIC Secretary General three years ago --
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu -- a former Turkish professor, writer,
and diplomat, has tried to raise the profile of the
Organization. In his first meeting with CG Gfoeller, shortly
after his investiture, Ihsanoglu stated plainly that he saw
his election as a mandate for reform, for "finally making the
OIC relevant on the world stage." He shared with the CG two
concrete suggestions -- the creation of a "Muslim free trade
zone" and the establishment of a campaign against
"Islamophobia" -- both of which are included in the 2005
Ten-Year Program of Action that the 57 member states will
review at the upcoming 11th OIC Summit in Dakar.

ESTABLISHING A "MUSLIM FREE TRADE ZONE"


3. (S) One of Ihsanoglu's major goals is to establish a
"Muslim free trade zone" whereby OIC member states would
trade freely amongst themselves. According to Ihsanoglu,
such an approach would make the OIC relevant to its member
states and their populations and would increase said
populations' standards of living. The goal of the OIC is to
increase intra-OIC trade from 14% to 20% by 2015. To that
end, the OIC's International Development Bank (IDB) has
undertaken studies on how to finance trade, participated in
trade fairs, and organized seminars on capacity building
(e.g. November 2007 forum on enhancing cotton sector
cooperation among OIC countries). Last November the IDB
established the International Islamic Trade Finance
Corporation in order to consolidate the IDB's trade finance
activities.

COMBATING "ISLAMOPHOBIA"


4. (S) Another top priority for Ihsanolgu is to strengthen
the OIC campaign of equating anti-Semitism and all other
forms of racial and other discrimination with "Islamophobia."
In his initial meeting with the CG, Ihsanoglu was not able
to define this rather vague concept, besides attributing to
it anything perceived as offensive to or critical of Muslims.
For example, he described to the CG as "Islamophobic" both
the publications of the Danish Mohammed cartoons and the
West's condemnation of Muslims' violent reactions to them.


5. (U) OIC efforts to tackle the issue of "Islamophobia,"
include a September 2006 Islamic Conference of Information
Ministers as well as various speaking engagements in the U.S.
and around the world. Most recently in September 2007, OIC
Secretary General Ihsanoglu spoke at Georgetown University

SIPDIS
before foreign dignitaries, media representatives, and
Georgetown staff and faculty, on the role of media in
"Islamic World-West" relations. In order to correct
misperceptions about Islam, he argued for measures such as a
code of conduct for and closer dialogue/cooperation among
media professionals as well as a media monitoring initiative.

"ISLAMOPHOBIA" AND TERRORISM


6. (U) Ihsanoglu's concern over "Islamophobia" has led him to
consider the relationship between that phenomenon and
terrorism and try to do something about it. Of the OIC's
initiatives to combat terrorism, high-level officials
highlight as their most prominent accomplishment the November

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2007 International Confrence on Terrorism. This was the
first time tha the OIC organized jointly an event with the
United Nations. The objective, as noted in UN Secretary
General Bi Ki-Moon's opening remarks at the Conference, was
to implement the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy adopted by
the UN General Assembly in September 2006. The conference
produced a document entitled "Concluding Observations" in
which the OIC reiterates its calls for the international
community to prevent the spread of "Islamophobia." The OIC
believes that international terrorism has created a poor
understanding of Islam, resulting in intolerance of and
discrimination against Muslims.

REFINING IDEAS ON TOLERANCE


7. (S) In tandem with the above developments, Ihsanoglu began
to refine his vague ideas about post-9/11 tolerance -- in
significant measure prodded by Post's steadily increasing
interaction with him (and possibly more importantly) with a
host of lower-level OIC functionaries. As mentioned before,
the OIC is headquartered in Saudi Arabia, but not just
anywhere in Saudi Arabia. Jeddah, the home turf it shares
with Post, certainly has religious significance as the
age-old gateway to the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and
Medina. However, it is also by far the most cosmopolitan of
the Kingdom's cities, having benefited from centuries of
trade as the Red Sea's most significant port and melting pot
among multi-national and multi-ethnic pilgrims from the
farthest corners of the Muslim community. Moreover, it is
the capital of the liberal Hejaz region, a former kingdom
only incorporated into the Al Saud monarchy after the First
World War. Tolerance and inter-faith understanding may not
be on the minds of most Saudis, but of the few who do
understand and even support the concepts, most by far live in
the Hejaz. It appears that this more mellow atmosphere -
coupled with a new Secretary General who was already leaning
in that direction - had had an impact on the OIC, from the
top on down.

OIC DECLARATIONS MORE IN LINE WITH US POLICY


8. (S) Secretary General Ihsanoglu reacted to this by issuing
a number of extremely helpful declarations. Over the past
three years the OIC has increasingly issued declarations
including ever-more frequent condemnations of terrorism to
statements supporting internationally accepted human rights,
women's rights, the environment, and a host of other concerns
that directly concern the USG. For example, on October 12,
2007, Secretary General Ihsanoglu issued a statement
celebrating Human Rights Day, launching activities to
commemorate the 60th anniversary of the signing of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and announcing plans
to consider creating an independent permanent human rights
body. (NOTE: In recent conversations with OIC officials,
Consulate General Jeddah learned that the OIC is establishing
a human rights office. END NOTE.)

OIC CAPTURES ATTENTION OF US AND EUROPE


9. (S) As the OIC's voice became more responsible on the
world stage, European and USG officials began to pay more
attention to it, thus reinforcing the OIC's relevance.
Ihsanoglu was extremely proud and pleased to forge a
relationship with Under Secretary Nicholas Burns, to
participate with Secretary Rice at the Sharm al-Sheikh
summit, to host Ambassador Fraker at his Jeddah Headquarters,
and finally to welcome the creation of the post of U.S. OIC
Special Envoy, first through Post and then through a personal
telephone call with the Secretary.

PLANS FOR OIC IMPROVEMENT AND SUGGESTIONS FOR STRONGER US-OIC
RELATIONS


10. (S) Ihsanoglu knows that not only does his organization
need more legitimacy, it also needs more professionalism. He
admitted as much to the CG, lamenting his staff's lack of
professionalism with the words, "They are all retired
ambassadors who needed to be given a sinecure." Post has
already begun to address this lacuna in a modest way by
organizing the first-ever OIC senior officials' IVLP program.
However, as we obtain more from the OIC, we could offer
more, for example:

-- A professional training initiative for lower and mid-level
OIC officials in the United States, perhaps in coordination
with Human Rights Watch and other relevant NGOs;

-- Assigning a junior to mid-level FSO to OIC Headquarters in

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Jeddah on an "internship." This would have the virtue of
both demonstrating to OIC officials American professionalism
and getting us increased access to the OIC's decision-making
process at the working level and from inside the organization;

-- Eventually, if circumstances warranted, the USG might
apply for OIC observer status on the strength of our sizable
Muslim minority. This would have the virtue of cementing our
outreach to the world Islamic community as well as helping us
to keep a closer eye on potential trouble-making observers,
such as Russia.
GFOELLER