Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08RIYADH1070
2008-07-10 13:14:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Riyadh
Cable title:  

SECTARIANISM UNDERMINES LOCAL CONFIDENCE IN

Tags:  CIA KIRF KISL PGOV PHUM PREL PTER SA 
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VZCZCXRO3798
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDIR RUEHKUK RUEHLH RUEHPW RUEHROV
DE RUEHRH #1070/01 1921314
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 101314Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY RIYADH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8750
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY 0221
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 RIYADH 001070 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/10/2018
TAGS: CIA KIRF KISL PGOV PHUM PREL PTER SA
SUBJECT: SECTARIANISM UNDERMINES LOCAL CONFIDENCE IN
INTERFAITH INITIATIVE

REF: A. 08 RIYADH 1035

B. 08 RIYADH 853

C. 07 RIYADH 2223

Classified By: CG John Kincannon for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 RIYADH 001070

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/10/2018
TAGS: CIA KIRF KISL PGOV PHUM PREL PTER SA
SUBJECT: SECTARIANISM UNDERMINES LOCAL CONFIDENCE IN
INTERFAITH INITIATIVE

REF: A. 08 RIYADH 1035

B. 08 RIYADH 853

C. 07 RIYADH 2223

Classified By: CG John Kincannon for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Despite King Abdullah's efforts to foster
religious tolerance, an increase in local sectarian tension
and a series of perceived anti-Shi'a actions by Saudi
authorities in the Eastern Province have undermined
confidence among many Saudi Shi'a that the SAG's interfaith
efforts will achieve results in the Kingdom. With tensions
already heightened due to a widely-reported anti-Shi'a
statement made by twenty-two Salafi sheikhs only three days
prior to the June 4 - 6 Mecca Conference on Interfaith
Dialogue, the SAG further stoked local ire by shutting down
three long-operating unlicensed Shi'a mosques in the city of
Khobar on June 5. Also in early June, authorities forced the
closure of a Qatif-area women's hawza (Shi'a religious
school) overseen by Jaafari court judge Sheikh Ghalib
al-Hammad. In each case, the sheikh responsible for the
mosque/hawza was detained and forced to sign a pledge to
cease his religious activities. After prominent al-Ahsa
sheikh Tawfiq al-Amir offered a strong rebuttal to the
Salafis' statement in a Friday sermon, he was detained on
June 22 and held for one week. Meanwhile, the highly
publicized efforts of Sunni activist Mekhlef al-Shammari to
promote unity among Muslims by praying at a Shi'a mosque
resulted in a subsequent backlash, as threats of violence
against the community leader forced cancellation of further
planned events. While some remain hopeful that the King's
initiative will bring change, others argue the discrepancy
between royal statements and local realities points to King
Abdullah's limited ability to promote change in the face of a
well-entrenched political and religious establishment. END
SUMMARY.

--------------
Vanguard Effort...
--------------


2. (C) Advancing a long-held personal vision for greater
inter-faith understanding, King Abdullah visited the Vatican

to meet with Pope Benedict XVI in November 2007, the first
ever meeting between a Saudi monarch and a Pope. Abdullah
continued to focus on this vision in early 2008, speaking of
its importance both publicly and privately, while allowing
more hesitant members of the Saudi religious establishment to
adjust to the idea. On June 4-6, the SAG organized in Mecca
the first major conference of the effort, with the goal of
promoting unity amongst various Islamic sects. With former
Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani attending
alongside Saudi Grand Mufti Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh, the Mecca
gathering ended with calls to move forward in dialogue with
other religions, without "giving up the religion's (Islam's)
fundamentals." As a next step King Abdullah will inaugurate
the International Dialogue Conference, to be held in Madrid
on July 16 - 18 (Reftel A). The Madrid conference will bring
together Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders who, rather
than focusing on political issues, will attempt to affirm
fundamental shared religious values, including ideas such as
international cooperation, human rights and peaceful
coexistence.

-------------- --------------
...Undermined by Increased Tensions and Local Crackdown
-------------- --------------


3. (C) These ground-breaking efforts by King Abdullah have
generated an underwhelming response from many of the
Kingdom's Shi'a leaders, as the headline-making initiative
has coincided with increased sectarian tensions and a recent
crackdown by Saudi authorities on Shi'a religious activities
in the Eastern Province. Tensions were initially heightened
in the Kingdom when, on June 1, twenty-two Saudi Salafi
religious leaders issued a harsh anti-Shi'a statement.
Specifically referencing Iraq, Iran, Yemen and Hizbollah the
statement accused Shi'a of "humiliating" Sunnis and added
that they "sow strife, corruption and destruction among
Muslims and destabilize security in Muslim countries." Saudi
Shi'a point out that many of the twenty-two signatories enjoy
close ties to the SAG and the SAG took no steps to refute the
statement, although one Saudi official told the Associated
Press, on the condition of anonymity, that the sheikhs'
comments did not represent the views of the SAG. With this
backdrop the Mecca conference was held, with a reported 500

RIYADH 00001070 002 OF 003


participants coming from all over the world. Despite this
impressive number of attendees, and the presence of
Rafsanjani, EP contacts report that the only Saudi Shi'a
leaders in attendance were Sheikh Hassan al-Saffar and his
brother, Sheikh Mohammed al-Saffar.


4. (C) With sectarian stresses already running high, on June
5, the second day of the Mecca Conference, city of Khobar
Mabahith - acting on orders from the office of EP Governor
Mohammad bin Fahd - closed three unlicensed Shi'a mosques
which local contacts say had operated for more than three
decades. Each mosque's imam was detained along with a small
number of worshippers. They were released after signing
pledges not to continue their religious activities.
According to Ali al-Huwaider (protect),who had previously
attended these unlicensed mosques, in the weeks following the
closure of the three mosques, Ali al-Gharib of the Doha area
of Khobar was similarly detained after inviting a large group
to pray in his home. NOTE: While it might seem acceptable
that authorities shut down unlicensed mosques, Shi'a point to
the fact that unlicensed mosques and husseiniyyas exist
throughout the EP and that these particular mosques had
operated - with the local authorities' knowledge - for
decades. Due to the difficulty of obtaining licenses for
Shi'a religious establishments, particularly outside of Qatif
and al-Ahsa, a gray area of permissible activity exists in
which well-known but "unofficial" religious institutions
operate in cities like Dammam and Khobar (Reftel B). END NOTE.


5. (C) Also in early June, Eastern Province Mabahith forced a
women's hawza (Shi'a religious school) in Tarut to close,
detaining the hawza's manager, Sheikh Ghalib al-Hammad, until
he signed a pledge to stop all hawza activity. The school
had some two hundred students and was notable not only
because it was one of the few Shi'a religious schools
offering training for women, but also because Sheikh
al-Hammad is one of the three judges who make up the Appeals
Court in the Jaafari court system. Banned Shi'a website
rasid.com reports that authorities gave no reason for the
closure of the hawza. In addition to the closure of the
Khobar mosques and the Tarut hawza - both events widely known
in the Shi'a community - Shi'a leader Jafar al-Shayeb
(protect) also told PolOff of other lesser-known incidents
that had led him to question if these might be deliberate
efforts to undermine interfaith progress. Chief among them
was a negotiation process with the SAG regarding a request to
use a portion of a Sunni cemetery in Dammam for Shi'a burial.
Al-Shayeb told PolOff that after a long effort in which
Shi'a community leaders worked with the Human Rights
Commission to gain permission from the Royal Court, the
process has now completely stagnated as the EP Governor's
office has blocked implementation.


6. (C) With sectarian pressure continuing to run high, and
after the events of Khobar, Dammam and Qatif, on Friday, June
20, prominent al-Ahsa imam Sheikh Tawfiq al-Amer delivered an
impassioned sermon attacking the twenty-two Salafi
signatories of the anti-Shi'a statement. Accusing the
sheikhs of creating an atmosphere of tension, al-Amer
demanded increased rights and freedoms for the Shi'a majority
in al-Ahsa province. In response, al-Ahsa Mabahith, on the
order of al-Ahsa Governor Badr bin Jiluwi, detained the
Sheikh on June 22, holding him without charge for seven days.
According to Mohammad al-Jubran (protect),a member of the
National Society for Human Rights, al-Amer was held for a
week because he had refused to sign a statement offered by
Hasawi authorities pledging to end his speeches calling for
increased Shi'a rights.

-------------- --------------
Threats Deter Sunni Leader's Attempts at Reconciliation
-------------- --------------


7. (C) In an effort to provide a grassroots element to the
high-level interfaith initiative, on June 13 Sunni human
rights activist Mekhlef al-Shammari attended the mosque of
leading Qatif sheikh Hassan al-Saffar to join Shi'a in Friday
prayer. The effort generated significant attention in
Internet media, garnering both positive and negative
comments. As a follow-up, Al-Shammari and like-minded Qatifi
Shi'a announced they would join together for Friday prayer on
June 20 in Khobar's Crown Prince Sultan mosque, a Sunni place
of worship. Due to a deluge of death threats however, the
event never happened. While Internet blogs saw numerous
comments threatening violence against the group, al-Shammari
did not cancel the event until he received a call to meet

RIYADH 00001070 003 OF 003


with the Khobar Mabahith. According to Ibrahim al-Mugaiteeb
(protect),who was in close contact with al-Shammari, the
Mabahith officers told al-Shammari they supported his efforts
to build bridges with the Shi'a community, but believed the
possibility of violence at the Sultan mosque was too high to
proceed with the proposed event. Despite canceling the
event, on June 24, a sword wielding assailant attacked the
Khobar house of al-Shammari, attempting to break into the
building. Al-Shammari contacted area police and neither he
nor his family was hurt. Al-Mugaiteeb reports that
al-Shammari has been given police protection to prevent any
further attacks.

--------------
Theories of Royal Intrigue
--------------


8. (C) After the 2007 up-tick in Eastern Province sectarian
incidents, particularly in al-Ahsa, the first half of 2008
has been comparatively quiet. The 2008 commemorations of
Ashura, Arbaeen and other Shi'a occasions had seen relatively
few documented incidents of sectarian-inspired detentions by
Saudi authorities (Reftel C). With King Abdullah's talk of
interfaith dialogue building on this slight momentum, June's
events have created confusion and convinced many that King
Abdullah's institutional power within the Kingdom is
significantly limited. No Shi'a leader saw the timing of
these closures and arrests as purely coincidental, and some
express the view that it is an effort by Interior Minister
Prince Naif, with the implicit support of his Sudairi
brethren, to flex his institutional muscle against the King's
efforts. Naif enjoys close ties to EP Governor Prince
Mohammed bin Fahd (this thanks to the Sudairi lineage and
Mohammed's marriage to Naif's daughter). Many believe that
Naif, working through EP Governor Mohammed, controls the
province's religious freedom agenda. Whatever the true
reason, there is a clear disconnect between the efforts of
the King and the actions of the EP authorities.


9. (C) Many in the Shi'a community dismiss the King's recent
initiative for interfaith dialogue. It is too soon, however,
to judge the ultimate effect of the King's efforts. Leading
Shi'a sheikh Hassan al-Saffar continues to support the King's
initiative and at this time plans to attend the Madrid
Conference. Al-Saffar continues working toward sectarian
reconciliation, recently bringing Sheikh Dr. Mohammed
al-Najimi, a prominent Sunni cleric and member of the Islamic
Fiqh Academy, to Qatif for a joint conference with the
community. Al-Saffar also brought together eighty-five Shi'a
clerics - including the likes of Abdulkarim al-Hubail,
recognized as a leading Saudi Hizbollah figure - to issue a
joint statement responding to the twenty-two Salafis by
calling for Islamic unity and urging "our brothers who call
for fatwas" to revise their strategy and forget the hostility
of past generations.


10. (C) Some, like pragmatic Qatif Municipal Councilman Isa
al-Muzel, believe the King will continue working past this
imperfect first step, and that through focusing on increased
citizen participation there will be a brighter and more
tolerant future ahead. Meanwhile, in a July 8 meeting,
moderate Sunni imam Sheikh Adel al-Ghoneim told PolOff that
the interfaith initiative will create change, but only with
time. According to the imam, while events on the ground
might remain stagnant, attitudes will change with a continued
focus on tolerance.


11. (C) COMMENT: The question is how much time remains. Some
fear that the continued discrepancy between high-level calls
for unity and ground-level actions against it will doom any
chance for progress. The more important concern, however, is
whether the interfaith initiative will continue past the
reign of King Abdullah. In a process that demands long-term
commitment, the events of the past month call into question
just how deep and wide the commitment of the royal family to
interfaith dialogue runs. END COMMENT.

(APPROVED: JKINCANNON)
FRAKER