EMBASSY N'DJAMENA'S RECENT INTERFAITH DIALOGUE

UNCLAS NDJAMENA 000417 E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KPAO OIIP SCUL CD SUBJECT: EMBASSY N'DJAMENA'S RECENT INTERFAITH DIALOGUE ACTIVITIES REF: STATE 89406 ¶1. (U) As part of our extensive program of outreach to Chad's Muslims (54 per cent of the total country population), and to honor the 2009 anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States, Ambassador Nigro hosted an Iftaar for 100-some guests, including Foreign Minister Moussa Faki Mahamat and other prominent Muslim and Christian influence-makers, on September 10, near the end of Ramadan. Separately, Embassy Democracy and Development staff participated in a September 22-25 Interfaith Dialogue Conference hosted by the Academy for Educational Development (AED),our primary partner for peace-through-development projects in conjunction with the TSCTP. This activity brought together 60-some young leaders of Chad's Muslim and Christian communities, hailing from diverse regions of the country, to plan joint projects that will further peace and understanding. Both events received favorable media coverage. Per reftel, photographs and reprints of press articles have been sent to the Department. ¶2. (U) Ambassador Nigro's remarks, and those of Embassy staff who attended the AED event, emphasized Chad's long traditions of religious tolerance and solidarity among a population nearly equally divided between Muslims and Christians, and involving hundreds of cultural and linguistic traditions as well. Both the Ambassador and Embassy staff praised Chad's secularism and efforts toward democracy, making clear that progress would depend on continued mutual respect among adherents of both major faiths, and on rejection of extremism and separatism. BREMNER