THE OIC'S JERUSALEM FUND AGENCY ASKS FOR USG HELP

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 RABAT 000593 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR NEA/MAG, NEA/RA AND OIC SPECIAL REP CUMBER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIN EAID PTER ECON IS MO SUBJECT: THE OIC'S JERUSALEM FUND AGENCY ASKS FOR USG HELP ¶1. (SBU) Summary and Action Request: Abdelkebir Alaoui M,Daghri, Director General of the Morocco-based Agence Bayt Al-Mal al Qods (the Jerusalem Fund Agency) appealed to Ambassador Riley in a June 13 meeting for USG help in attesting to the bona fides of his organization. The Agency, subordinate to the Jerusalem Committee of the Islamic Conference (OIC),was empowered by the OIC to preserve the Islamic character of Jerusalem,s holy places and support the local population. So far it has had modest, mostly Moroccan-government support, and thus limited impact. Fund-raising, particularly from major private donors has been hampered by donors, fears about terrorism finance restrictions. M,Daghri, a royal appointee and former Minister of Religious Affairs, noted that he will travel to the U.S. this summer. USG views on his request, including the assessment of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv of agency activities, would be appreciated. End Summary and Action Request. An Islamic Conference (OIC) Agency -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Ambassador Riley paid a courtesy call on Mohammed Alaoui M'Daghri, Director General of the Agence Bayt Al-Mal al Qods (the Jerusalem Fund Agency or, hereafter, the Agency) on June 13. The Agency was established by the Jerusalem Committee of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC),which is headed by King Mohammed VI, who named M'Daghri to the job. M,Dagrhi characterized the agency,s mission as a humanitarian not a political one. It supports, he said, the people and institutions of the holy city, and works on housing, health, education, and culture. Its primary institutional contacts are the Islamic holy sites and the Palestinian Authority. In effect, he explained, the PA is the agency,s client, pointing to a photograph of him with King Mohammed VI and PA President Abbas. ¶3. (SBU) M'Daghri described a sort of three-level control system for the Jerusalem Fund Agency. At the top there is a Board of Trustees made up of the Islamic Foreign Ministers, with financial oversight by the OIC Finance Ministers. King Mohammed VI appointed him and provides some overall oversight. The agency's contact with Israeli officials goes through the Palestinian Authority, but it allows the agency's activities to proceed. The Jordanians also have a certain role, including with respect to the holy places. Agency Programs -------------- ¶4. (SBU) M'daghri said he had recently returned from Jerusalem where the Agency was facilitating construction of an additional floor for a school in the Abrahamite University of Jerusalem. It had also paid for an elevator in Mkassid Hospital. It has restored a home for the aged and given 80 computers to a school for orphans. It has also restored five mosques and a ziyouaia (a Moroccan term for a shrine for a saint) in what was known as the Maghrebi or Moroccan quarter. Some 60 families now live in the shrine area and the Agency is currently trying to restore these ruined areas to livable housing for them. The Israeli police came to question this project but left satisfied it was legitimate, he said. ¶5. (SBU) M'daghri said the Fund also currently feeds 100 families with 20 loaves of bread per day: It planned to expand this shortly to 500 families and ultimately 1,000 families. It provides interest-free loans for rehabilitation of housing. A staffer added that the fund also provides scholarships to 36 students to study abroad in the U.S., France, Morocco and U.A.E. The Fund wants to expand this to 80 or 100 students as soon as money is available. It is important that these young Palestinians have alternatives so that they are not tempted to become extremists. ¶6. (SBU) M'daghri noted the Agency also works to promote tolerance. It paid for a new roof on a Christian cultural center and created a conference center for the Dialogue of Civilizations, located inside "the Morocco House" in Jerusalem. In its programs, it provides assistance without discrimination; "If a Jew arrives, we take care of him," M'daghri said. M'daghri stressed repeatedly and categorically, "We do not cooperate with anyone with a disposition to violence." It vets its grantees with the PA and local authorities. RABAT 00000593 002 OF 003 ¶7. (SBU) M'daghri said the Fund had many projects on the drawing board, but it needed funding, which it hoped to obtain from Arab states and private sources. Thus far, 60 percent of its funding comes from Morocco. Two-thirds of that is from the state and one third from private donations, which come through its well publicized "555" account. King Mohammed VI recently sent a letter to Arab heads of state urging them to contribute. A Request for a USG vetting -------------- ¶8. (SBU) M'daghri said the fund needed some kind of clean bill of health or "green light," from the USG to facilitate its fund raising. Countries and private donors who otherwise could support the Jerusalem Fund were reluctant due to apprehension about U.S. anti-terror financing rules. M'daghri said he understood and supported these terror financing restrictions, and they did not affect the Fund directly, but they have made doQs reluctant. The Fund has made an effort to open deposit accounts in banQhrougQ the Arab world. The banks have done their due diligence, he said, but they tell the Agency that to operate they need some sort of statement of no objection from the Federal Reserve Bank in New York. "We are ready to offer total transparency," he said, including any audit or other detailed financial or other examination the USG wished to undertake. ¶9. (SBU) Ambassador Riley thanked M'daghri and noted that he would convey this information and request to Washington. He noted that restrictions on finance for terrorists were very important and had been effective, including as a deterrent. Rules and procedures are complex and there are a variety of lists and databases, so this was an issue that would be up to specialists. ¶10. (SBU) M'daghri also provided some documentation, including a highly ambitious mid- to long-term plan. The Agency has a very general roster of proposed projects through December 2009 worth USD 25 million and for 2010-2014, USD 65 million, which would include projects for Muslims in the Western World. These are big plans, considering the organization's modest history. According to its website, however, the Agency has spent only a very modest USD 1.8 million since 1996 in Jerusalem on housing, education, health care and youth programs. ¶11. (SBU) Background: The Jerusalem Committee is a subgroup of the Islamic Conference at the head of state level, chaired by the Moroccan King, which is intended to coordinate policies to preserve the city of Jerusalem's Arab and Islamic character. The Bayt Mal Al-Quds Al-Charif ("the Agency") was set up by King Hassan II in 1997 as a funding arm of the Jerusalem Committee, intended to pool funds for development projects that "preserve Jerusalem's Islamic and Arab character and safeguard its civilization, religious, cultural and architectural heritage." Subsequent to the visit, the Agency distributed a press release about the Ambassador's visit and placed an account and photo on its website: www.baytmalalqods.org. ¶12. (SBU) M'daghri's office contacted us separately and indicated that he plans to travel to the U.S. for 10 days on July 26. He has been invited to participate in a Yale University conference on religious tolerance and also plans to be in New York. Comment and Action Request -------------- ¶13. (SBU) The diplomatic contributions of the Jerusalem Committee and the material contributions of the Agency have been both more symbolic than substantive. They both, however, support King Mohammed VI's standing as an Islamic leader on the world stage and also promote Morocco's relevance and ability to engage in the Arab-Israeli peace process. The new headquarters of the Agency in Rabat may well be worth more than the total of its projects, and its budget may be more that the expenses it is incurring in the field. Nonetheless, the Agency could be in a position to work in the sensitive area of the Temple Mount, without carrying the risk of other outside bodies, and it could help build confidence. We understand that providing any kind of RABAT 00000593 003 OF 003 USG endorsement or even a clean bill of health, as M'daghri has requested, may be highly problematic. ¶14. (SBU) Washington's reaction to M'daghri's somewhat unusual request would be most welcome. This certainly presents an opportunity to at least review the agency,s financing/operations. It could also be useful to learn what perspectives the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority have on the institution aQits request. End Comment and Action Request. Q***************************************** Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website; http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat ***************************************** Riley