UAE SUPPORT FOR AL AZHAR PROGRAMMING OUTREACH

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 000917 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP, SRAP, SCA AND R E.O. 12958: 09/15/2019 TAGS: PREL KPAO PTER KISL SCUL AF PK AE SUBJECT: UAE SUPPORT FOR AL AZHAR PROGRAMMING OUTREACH CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR RICHARD G. OLSON FOR REASONS 1.4 B AND D ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Post has researched comments on UAE support for Al Azhar University activities, made by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in his September 10 meeting with President Obama. Media sources confirm UAEG support for moderate Islamic broadcasts by Al Azhar University Cairo; information on UAE involvement in Al Azhar's branch campus in Afghanistan harder to pin down. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) During his meeting with President Obama on September 10, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan (MbZ) said that the UAE intends to establish a University in Kabul linked to Al-Azhar University in Cairo (the world's oldest Islamic university). MbZ characterized Al-Azhar as the best "brand" in Islamic education, and noted that the UAE was already funding Al-Azhar TV in the region. ¶3. (C) Open sources (islamonline.com) refered to the opening of a branch of Al Azhar in Kabul, with 45 faculty members, as far back as March of 2009, and suggested that Al Azhar's intends to provide an alternative to more extremist Pakistani schools. Local contacts were not aware of specific UAE support or involvement; a senior official at the National Media Council,however, said that UAE Ambassador to the U.S. Yousuf Otaiba has been discreetly and directly involved in other projects of this nature. ¶4. (SBU) Al Azhar initiated broadcasts of "Azhari TV" in August 2009, from Egypt. The station's own statistical information indicates that transmission is currently visible to roughly one billion Muslims across the Middle East and North Africa via Nilesat. The station desires to expand to other satellites and regions of the world (Europe, Australia and North America) and plans expansion into radio, newspapers, blogs and podcasts in 2010. The station website describes its mission as a non-governmental religious satellite broadcast that avoids politics and attacks against states, individuals and entities, while opening dialogue on theological issues and fostering communication among Al Azhar scholars and graduates worldwide. The station specifically cites the objective of promoting a moderate theology and countering extremism. Programming consists of talk shows, documentaries, religious cartoons and a daily show with Sheikh Mohammed Tantawi, the head (Shaykh) of Al Azhar. 75% of programming is in Arabic, the rest in English and French. ¶5. (C) A senior media advisor for the Executive Office of the Crown Prince and Abu Dhabi Media Company told post that the UAE has decided to support broadcasts of the Al Azhar satellite channel launched approximately two months ago. The broadcast content follows the theology of Al Azhar which is considered relatively moderate and mainstream. The objective is to promote the dissemination of an Islamic viewpoint that will strengthen moderates and also respond to President Obama's call for renewed dialogue. Our contact reported that the channel has provoked a division of opinion within Al Azhar, with a group of more conservative scholars objecting to the channel's content and urging that its name be changed. The channel continues to broadcast, however, and appears to be widely watched by, and popular with, a centrist/moderate Muslim audience. OLSON