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