MALI'S ONLY ISLAMIC POLITICAL PARTY FALLS ON HARD

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAMAKO 000267

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PINR KISL KDEM KIRF ML
SUBJECT: MALI'S ONLY ISLAMIC POLITICAL PARTY FALLS ON HARD
TIMES

REF: A. 07 BAMAKO 01336

B. 08 BAMAKO 01357

C. 08 BAMAKO 00237

D. 07 BAMAKO 01223

1.(SBU) On April 17 the Embassy met with National Union for
Rebirth (UNPR) president Modibo Sangare to discuss Mali's
April 26 local elections. The UNPR is Mali's only Islamic
political party and Sangare is the only political leader
openly seeking to transform Mali into an Islamic Republic.
Although the UNPR's platform is seemingly at odds with laws
prohibiting non-secular political parties, Sangare and the
UNPR continue to hover along the fringes of the Malian
political spectrum, presumably because the party is so small
that Malian officials simply prefer to leave well enough
alone. As UNPR president and an outspoken member of Mali's
al-Sunna or "wahhabi" community, Sangare is also on the
fringes of Mali's religious spectrum. Any tendency toward
religious extremism in the broader sense, however, is
tempered by Malian traditions of tolerance, openness, and
consensus, and Sangare remains effusive in his praise of the
United States. During his meeting with the Embassy, Sangare
described funding shortfalls that left the UNPR unable to
register virtually any candidates for the local elections,
and rehashed his on going feud with fellow al-Sunna leader
and High Council of Islam president Mahmoud Dicko. End
Summary.

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Modibo Sangare and the UNPR
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2.(SBU) With no representation at any level within the
Malian government and almost no resources, the UNPR would be
indistinguishable from Mali's estimated 100 other
micro-parties were it not for the UNPR's outspoken president,
Modibo Sangare. In 2002 Sangare was one of 24 presidential
candidates seeking to replace former President Alpha Oumar
Konare. Although Sangare garnered only 11,600 of the 1.5
million votes cast, he finished as well or better than others
with more resources and more mainstream messages. Sangare
tried to run for president again in 2007 but was unable to
muster the USD 20,000 registration fee.

3.(SBU) In 2007 and 2008 Sangare helped organize protests by
Muslim groups against President Amadou Toumani Toure's still
unrealized attempt to abolish the death penalty and revise
Mali's Family Code in order to provide more equal rights for
women (Ref. A). In November 2008 security forces used tear
gas to break up one UNPR rally (Ref B). In addition to his
vocal position against death penalty abolition, greater
inheritance rights for women, or attempts by human rights
groups to eliminate the practice of excision, Sangare openly
advocates for transforming the secular Malian state into a
Islamic Republic and the incorporation of certain aspects of
Sharia law.

4.(SBU) Sangare's ideas on secularism and Sharia
significantly differentiate him from other al-Sunna leaders
like High Council of Islam president Mahmoud Dicko. Although
Dicko and other mainstream Muslim leaders, whether al-Sunna
or Sufi, would like to see more religious instruction in
Malian schools, they have no interest in altering the secular
nature of the Malian state or legal system (Ref. C and D).
The UNPR's opposition to the secular nature of the Malian
State also appears to place the party and Sangare on the
wrong side of the Malian Constitution - which requires
political parties to respect the principles of national
sovereignty, democracy, territorial integrity, national
unity, and secularism - and a 2005 law prohibiting
non-secular political parties.

5.(SBU) Sangare has told the Embassy, "if it were up to me,
Mali would be an Islamic country, but one open to the West."
Sangare advocated for the establishment of an Islamic yet
still democratic Republic, that would be governed by Sharia
law while still respecting all human rights as outlined by
the United Nations as the bases for "each of these rights is
also found in the Koran." Sangare supported his argument by
claiming that Mali had tried socialism from 1960 to 1968, a
planned economy and military dictatorship from 1968 to 1991,
and democracy from 1991 to the present, all without success.
His plan for transforming Mali into an Islamic Republic
therefore seems part process of elimination, part religious
conviction.

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The UNPR's Financial Crisis
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BAMAKO 00000267 002 OF 002



6.(SBU) The UNPR's conspicuous lack of representation at any
level of Malian government, to include the roughly 11,000
local councilors up for election on April 26, may explain why
Malian officials have absolved Sangare and the UNPR for
breaking the vow of secularism that binds political parties
in Mali. Pursuing the UNPR for its political sins would also
likely backfire, bringing Sangare much more attention and
support that he would otherwise receive. Incentives for this
sort of inquiry are even fewer now, as Sangare remains a
political sideshow with almost no money to organize party
members or support political campaigns.

7.(SBU) Sangare said the UNPR received CFA 2 million (USD
4,000) in public campaign finance funds from the Malian
government for the 2007 presidential and legislative election
cycle, and spent USD 3,000 more of its own money collected
through party member contributions. Sangare said Malian
officials refused the UNPR's application for public funds for
the 2009 local elections due to discrepancies in receipts
accounting for the public funds received in 2007, and accused
Malian election officials of instructing him to produce
fabricated receipts for small payments to local religious
leaders and party members. His refusal - both on logistical
and moral grounds - meant that the UNPR received nothing from
the government in advance of the April 26 local elections.
As a result, the UNPR ran candidates in just one Malian town
- the city of Mopti in central Mali - on April 26, and
preliminary election results indicate that they faired
poorly.

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The U.S., AQIM, and the High Council of Islam
--------------

8.(SBU) Sangare was once again effusive in his praise for the
U.S., citing everything from American respect for religious
freedoms to open container laws governing the public
consumption of alcohol. Sangare said he believed the U.S.
defends the rights of Muslims more than any other country.
"Americans," said Sangare, "are a tolerant people, a people
who respect Islam." Comparing the U.S. to France, Sangare
noted that Muslim women in the U.S. can wear head scarves or
veils without fear of harassment or retribution. Sangare
said that certain aspects of U.S. policy toward the Middle
East, however, had recently introduced what he described as
an element of "schizophrenia" in to his admiration for
American values and freedom. Sangare said he was "marveled"
by the recent election of President Obama.

9.(SBU) On AQIM, Sangare said he rejected all forms of
terrorism and killing. He said the form of Salafism
practiced by AQIM was at odds with Malian culture, Malian
traditions of tolerance, and Malian values. Sangare also
recounted his running feud with the Malian High Council of
Islam (HCIM) and its president, Imam Mahmoud Dicko, whose
2008 election Sangare refused to accept, claiming that Dicko
and other HCIM members had violated HCIM by-laws. A
subsequent court challenge filed by Sangare has gone no
where, contributing to the division within Mali's al-Sunna or
"wahhabi" community over Sangare's refusal to recognize Imam
Dicko as HCIM president.

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Comment: Fringe? Yes. Lunatic? No.
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10.(SBU) In March the Embassy helped set up meetings with
local Muslim leaders for a Canadian Embassy political officer
dispatched to Mali to help manage the AQIM hostage crisis.
After meeting with several al-Sunna leaders, including one
senior "wahhabi" Imam who spent more than twenty years
working for Embassy Bamako as a motor pool driver, the
Canadian told us he was stunned to discover that even those
at the absolute end of the religious spectrum in Mali were
what he labeled as "Islam light." Although we might have
selected a different phrase, this description also applies to
Sangare and his UNPR, which is about as extreme as one can
get in Mali. While Sangare's opposition to a revised Family
Code, rather convoluted attempts to justify what he described
as the least invasive form of excision, and vision of an
Islamic Republic of Mali governed by some form of Sharia law
are unsettling, Sangare still reveres Malians' traditional
respect for tolerance and moderation. Sangare's tempered
form of political Islam, coupled with the general public and
Malian government's apparent disinterest in the UNPR
platform, indicates that neither the UNPR nor Sangare pose
any threat to these traditions.
MILOVANOVIC