Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08NDJAMENA274
2008-07-03 16:01:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ndjamena
Cable title:
CHAD'S LATEST "MADHI MOVEMENT" IN CENTRAL PART OF
how-toVZCZCXRO9531 PP RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV DE RUEHNJ #0274 1851601 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 031601Z JUL 08 FM AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6310 INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHBP/AMEMBASSY BAMAKO PRIORITY 0911 RUEHGI/AMEMBASSY BANGUI PRIORITY 1511 RUEHNM/AMEMBASSY NIAMEY PRIORITY 3067 RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT PRIORITY 0171 RUEHYD/AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE PRIORITY 1699
UNCLAS NDJAMENA 000274
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS; DEPARTMENT FOR AF/C,
INR/AA AND DS/IP/AF
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PTER SOCI ASEC CD
SUBJECT: CHAD'S LATEST "MADHI MOVEMENT" IN CENTRAL PART OF
THE COUNTRY CRUSHED BY SECURITY FORCES; AND EAC CONFIRMS
SITUATION IN CAPITAL NORMAL
UNCLAS NDJAMENA 000274
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS; DEPARTMENT FOR AF/C,
INR/AA AND DS/IP/AF
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PTER SOCI ASEC CD
SUBJECT: CHAD'S LATEST "MADHI MOVEMENT" IN CENTRAL PART OF
THE COUNTRY CRUSHED BY SECURITY FORCES; AND EAC CONFIRMS
SITUATION IN CAPITAL NORMAL
1. (U) The Chad Government is reporting that its security
forces crushed a violent religious extremist movement led by
a self-proclaimed "Madhi" (spiritual leader) centered in the
town of Kouni in south-central Chad, after peaceful efforts
to dissuade the "Madhi" to moderate his rhetoric and
threatening behavior failed.
2. (U) Last week, GOC security forces -- police and gendarmes
-- confronted supporters of a small, possibly Shia sect after
repeated threats by its leader, one Faki Ahmat Ismael
Bischara, to launch a "holy war" again the government and
after he refused to negotiate with religious authorities sent
by the GOC to convince him to moderate his actions. Hundreds
of religious students and local villagers armed with rocks,
swords, and bows and arrows attacked Chadian security forces
accompanying a GOC delegation to talk with "Madhi" Bischara,
with chants accusing the government of being corrupt and
un-Islamic. They demanded that the GOC adopt the "Madhi's"
extremist views or face a "jihad" that would begin in Kouno
and spread across Chad. Responding to the attack, security
forces opened fire on the militants, killing seventy-two,
women and children, and arresting 200 more, according to the
GOC.
3. (SBU) The confrontation followed days of negotiation
between the government and the Islamic sect, in which Faki
Ahmat Ismael Bischara (the militant Madhi) rejected
government requests to cancel his plan for a jihad. Minister
of Interior Bachir announced on July 2 that Islamic centers
country-wide would be investigated, and that four gendarmes
had been killed in the fighting. The widely respected
Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (which is linked to the
GOC),who had negotiated on behalf of the government during
this crisis, is due to address the country on the Kouno
situation on July 3.
4. (SBU) On July 2, the High Council for Islamic Affairs
Secretary General Alhadi Nahim spoke to Poloff about their
negotiations with the religious sect.
5. (SBU) Embassy N'Djamena covened a core Emergency Action
Committee on July 3 to confirm that the situation in the
capital is normal and that the mission's current security
posture was appropriate for normal activities and for a July
4 community event on the Chancery compound.
6. (SBU) This is not the first time a millennial religious
movement has arisen in Chad, but we believe it maybe the
first to motivate its adepts to die for their beliefs.
Embassy officers will be delving into this incident further
in order to assess its importance as a precedent for Chad's
current and future political and social stability, as well as
any possible impact on the safety and security of Americans
in Chad.
NIGRO
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS; DEPARTMENT FOR AF/C,
INR/AA AND DS/IP/AF
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PTER SOCI ASEC CD
SUBJECT: CHAD'S LATEST "MADHI MOVEMENT" IN CENTRAL PART OF
THE COUNTRY CRUSHED BY SECURITY FORCES; AND EAC CONFIRMS
SITUATION IN CAPITAL NORMAL
1. (U) The Chad Government is reporting that its security
forces crushed a violent religious extremist movement led by
a self-proclaimed "Madhi" (spiritual leader) centered in the
town of Kouni in south-central Chad, after peaceful efforts
to dissuade the "Madhi" to moderate his rhetoric and
threatening behavior failed.
2. (U) Last week, GOC security forces -- police and gendarmes
-- confronted supporters of a small, possibly Shia sect after
repeated threats by its leader, one Faki Ahmat Ismael
Bischara, to launch a "holy war" again the government and
after he refused to negotiate with religious authorities sent
by the GOC to convince him to moderate his actions. Hundreds
of religious students and local villagers armed with rocks,
swords, and bows and arrows attacked Chadian security forces
accompanying a GOC delegation to talk with "Madhi" Bischara,
with chants accusing the government of being corrupt and
un-Islamic. They demanded that the GOC adopt the "Madhi's"
extremist views or face a "jihad" that would begin in Kouno
and spread across Chad. Responding to the attack, security
forces opened fire on the militants, killing seventy-two,
women and children, and arresting 200 more, according to the
GOC.
3. (SBU) The confrontation followed days of negotiation
between the government and the Islamic sect, in which Faki
Ahmat Ismael Bischara (the militant Madhi) rejected
government requests to cancel his plan for a jihad. Minister
of Interior Bachir announced on July 2 that Islamic centers
country-wide would be investigated, and that four gendarmes
had been killed in the fighting. The widely respected
Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (which is linked to the
GOC),who had negotiated on behalf of the government during
this crisis, is due to address the country on the Kouno
situation on July 3.
4. (SBU) On July 2, the High Council for Islamic Affairs
Secretary General Alhadi Nahim spoke to Poloff about their
negotiations with the religious sect.
5. (SBU) Embassy N'Djamena covened a core Emergency Action
Committee on July 3 to confirm that the situation in the
capital is normal and that the mission's current security
posture was appropriate for normal activities and for a July
4 community event on the Chancery compound.
6. (SBU) This is not the first time a millennial religious
movement has arisen in Chad, but we believe it maybe the
first to motivate its adepts to die for their beliefs.
Embassy officers will be delving into this incident further
in order to assess its importance as a precedent for Chad's
current and future political and social stability, as well as
any possible impact on the safety and security of Americans
in Chad.
NIGRO