PHILIPPINE MUSLIM RELIGIOUS LEADERS REACT TO

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MANILA 001220 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MTS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM ELAB PGOV RP SUBJECT: PHILIPPINE MUSLIM RELIGIOUS LEADERS REACT TO PRESIDENT OBAMA'S CAIRO SPEECH REF: MANILA 186 (SECOND ULAMA CONFERENCE REACHES OUT TO PRESIDENT OBAMA) ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Muslim leaders from the National Ulama Conference of the Philippines addressed a letter to President Obama June 5 expressing their sincere appreciation for the President's remarks last week in Cairo on U.S. relations with the Muslim world. The letter (full text para. 5),delivered to the Ambassador by Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy Lead Convenor Amina Rasul, encourages the U.S. to continue its support for peace and development in Mindanao, reiterating points made in the Conference's January 29 congratulatory letter to the President (reftel). The letter further commends President Obama for defining America's new relationship with Muslims as one based on "mutual interest and mutual respect." During her June 4 visit to Zamboanga City for the launch of a U.S.-sponsored peace initiative (septel),the Ambassador personally encouraged Mindanao's religious leaders to watch President Obama's highly anticipated speech to be delivered later that day. Afterwards, in a special note to the Ambassador, Rasul described how some Philippine ulama were nearly brought to tears as they listened to President Obama's speech and absorbed his message. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) Muslim leaders from the National Ulama Conference of the Philippines in a June 5 letter to President Obama expressed their "deep appreciation" for the President's offer of a "hand of friendship" in his June 4 remarks in Cairo. They commended President Obama for seeking to build a "new beginning" with Muslims based on "mutual interest and mutual respect." While acknowledging the "critical role" of U.S. relations with the Arab world, the letter asks the President to place "equal focus on Muslims from Southeast Asia," which, the letter's signatories state, "is home to some of the more vibrant democratic Muslim communities." The signatories specifically seek continued U.S. support on peace efforts between the Philippine government and Muslim rebels in Mindanao in the southern Philippines and for development programs to "bring prosperity and dignity" to Mindanao's Muslims. ¶3. (SBU) In a demonstration of enduring U.S. support for peace and development initiatives in Mindanao, the Ambassador attended the June 4 launch in Zamboanga City of the 
U.S.-supported OneWoman Initiative alongside members of the National Ulama Conference of the Philippines, local religious leaders, and officers from the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy (septel). The Council's Lead Convenor Amina Rasul and her mother, former Senator Santanina Rasul, who serves as advisor to the Council, are respectively Director and Founder of the Magbassa Kita Foundation, which received a grant in March through the OneWoman Initiative to provide Philippine Muslim women with skills training in conflict management and peace building. In her remarks at the launch event, the Ambassador noted the important role that women peace advocates can play in mediating conflict in Mindanao. The Ambassador also called special attention to President Obama's highly anticipated speech on U.S. engagement with the Muslim world, and urged all present to watch it later that evening to understand President Obama's vision for how communities can bridge the differences between them. ¶4. (SBU) Rasul's note to the Ambassador that accompanied the letter described the positive and emotional impact that President Obama's speech had on religious leaders who had convened in Zamboanga City June 4 for a regional conference. Some of the ulama, Rasul wrote, including a few who attended the OneWoman Initiative launch earlier that day, were almost in tears as they listened. Other public reactions were less emotional, but credited President Obama for his unprecedented outreach. One influential Muslim academic in Mindanao called the President's speech a "bold, balanced, and frank statement" on the direction of U.S. dialogue with the Muslim world. ¶5. (U) Begin text of letter: June 5, 2009 HIS EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA Washington, D.C. United States of America Dear Mr. President: Greetings of peace and goodwill! MANILA 00001220 002 OF 003 We, the Muslim religious leaders from the southern Mindanao island of the Philippines, would like to express our deep appreciation for offering "a hand of friendship to Islam and addressing an array of quandaries and conflicts dividing the two cultures" made during a speech on American and Muslim relations in Cairo. We commend you for seeking "a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect." And while we realize the critical role of your country's relations with the Arab world, it is our hope that you would also place equal focus on the Muslims from Southeast Asia. Contrary to the misconceptions of some, not all Muslims are Arabs. In fact, of the estimated 1.2 billion Muslims in the world, 60% live in Asia (with almost one-third of them living in Southeast Asia) and only 15% are Arabs. Parenthetically, the four nations with the largest Muslim populations, Indonesia (194 million),India (150 million),Pakistan (145 million),and Bangladesh (130 million),are in Asia. This also includes the minority Muslim populations in the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore. In fact, as you courageously addressed the issue of democracy in the Middle East, our region is home to some of the more vibrant democratic Muslim communities. As you made clear that your country "is not and never will be at war with Islam" but that the United States "will relentlessly confront violent extremists who pose a grave threat to (y)our (nation's) security," we express the hope that you would pay particular attention to empowering the moderate sections of the Muslim population as a means to counter radicalization. We, the Muslims in Southeast Asia, are known for being moderate. While we praise your bold efforts to address the root cause of the problem in the Middle East by recognizing the right of the Palestinians to their homeland and a state of their own, we wish to reiterate the declaration that we made when we congratulated you last January 2009 on your election as the first African-American President of the United States: ¶1. To engage the Muslim world, particularly the Southeast Asian Muslims and the ulama sector, through dialogue and cooperation that will benefit our communities and humanity. ¶2. To vigorously support the peace process in Mindanao to end the 40-year armed conflict which has resulted in 600,000 displaced and hundreds killed since August 2008, and work to bring the Government of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) back to the negotiating table as soon as possible; ¶3. To support the legitimate and inherent right of the Bangsamoro people to self-determination. ¶4. To support the full implementation of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement between the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Philippine government. ¶5. To extend massive relief and rehabilitation assistance to internally displaced persons in Mindanao, particularly in conflict-affected areas, through socio-economic development programs that will bring prosperity and dignity to our people; Finally, we commend your efforts to forge closer ties and understanding with Muslims from all over the world. We join you in condemning acts of violence and we unite with you in deploring war and the evils that it produces. We hope you can come and visit us in the Philippines, should you visit Indonesia and South East Asia. Peace, we sincerely believe, is the only war worth fighting for. Thank you, Mr. President, and Godspeed. Sincerely, (Signatories) And other Ulama from Sulu, Tawi Tawi, Basilan, and Zamboanga City, attending the Regional Consultations of the National Ulama Conference of the Philippines End text of letter. MANILA 00001220 003 OF 003 KENNEY