LETTER FROM AHMAD CHALABI TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

UNCLAS BAGHDAD 002783 SIPDIS PLEASE PASS TO NSC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL OPDC IZ SUBJECT: LETTER FROM AHMAD CHALABI TO PRESIDENT OBAMA ¶1. On October 13, 2009 Embassy Baghdad received the following letter from Ahmad Chalabi to President Obama. The original letter will be transmitted to NEA/I/POL via pouch mail. Begin text of message: The Honorable President Barack Obama, President of the United States of America The White House Washington, DC Dear President Obama, Please accept my sincere congratulations on the award of Nobel Peace Prize of 2009. The few months of your administration have produced a sea-change in the perception of the United States of America in the World and specifically among Muslims. Your historic speech in Cairo has become a beacon of hope for the coming era. We already feel the imprint of your policies in Iraq and we look forward to a strategic relationship with the United States of America based on respect, culture and economic cooperation. We welcome your determination to discard making military and intelligence matters the overriding agenda of the United States in Iraq. The responsibility of combating extremists who claim to be acting in the name of Islam is primarily the responsibility of Muslims. We must devise strategies to fight those nefarious elements and to offer a reality of hope and progress in synthesizing the world for Muslims in the 21st century. In this respect, we hope that you can see your way clearly to supporting an alliance in the historical center of the Muslim world. We are working to develop a Concordat among the modern states of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran which together comprise the territory known in Islamic geography as "Al Iqleem Al Rabi'i". The famous Muslim historiographer Al Masoodi described this territory as "the heart of the world". This Concordat, built on peace, prosperity and tolerance, will have a determining effect on the entire Muslim world and will be the rock on which extremism in the Muslim world will shatter. Finally, I would like to mention that the people in Iraq are proud of your initiatives and wish you well in winning of the Nobel Peace Prize of 2009. Sincerely, /signed/ Ahmad Chalabi End text of message. HILL