Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09RABAT667
2009-07-31 17:16:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Rabat
Cable title:
MUSLIM ENGAGEMENT: OPPORTUNITIES FOR COOPERATION
how-toVZCZCXRO1442 PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHGI RUEHJS RUEHKUK RUEHLH RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHTRO DE RUEHRB #0667/01 2121716 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 311716Z JUL 09 FM AMEMBASSY RABAT TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0522 INFO RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA PRIORITY 4689
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RABAT 000667
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
STATE FOR S/P, R, NEA, OES, NEA/PI AND NEA/MAG
NSC FOR PRADEEP RAMAMURTHY
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL OEXC SOCI KISL PINR MO
SUBJECT: MUSLIM ENGAGEMENT: OPPORTUNITIES FOR COOPERATION
WITH ISESCO
REF: RABAT 0638
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RABAT 000667
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
STATE FOR S/P, R, NEA, OES, NEA/PI AND NEA/MAG
NSC FOR PRADEEP RAMAMURTHY
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL OEXC SOCI KISL PINR MO
SUBJECT: MUSLIM ENGAGEMENT: OPPORTUNITIES FOR COOPERATION
WITH ISESCO
REF: RABAT 0638
1. (SBU) Summary: The Islamic Educational, Scientific, and
Cultural Organization (ISESCO) could facilitate linkages
between U.S. and Islamic world universities, ISESCO Director
General Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri told the Charge on July
24. Altwaijri, an admirer of the U.S., proposed that such
linkages could then be expanded into the areas of interfaith
dialogue and scientific research. Altwaijri hoped for an
official invitation to Washington to meet with U.S. policy
makers and other officials to further discuss and inaugurate
a new era of cooperation between ISESCO and the U.S. The
Embassy views this opening with ISESCO as a prime opportunity
for the U.S. to advance enhanced engagement with the Muslim
World, as called for in President Obama's June 4 speech in
Cairo. We recommend the Department's timely consideration
for inviting ISESCO Director General Altwaijri to Washington
to advance this potential opening, possibly focusing on
exchanges of faculty and students, joint research, and cross
cultural lectures. End Summary.
2. (SBU) On July 24, Charge, Acting DCM and Public Affairs
Counselor, PolCouns, A/EconCouns, and D/PolCouns paid a
courtesy call on ISESCO Director General Abdulaziz Othman
Altwaijri and Chief of Staff Ahmed Said Ould Bah at ISESCO
Headquarters in Rabat to discuss engagement between the U.S.
and ISESCO. Altwaijri opened the meeting by expressing his
admiration for the U.S., where he studied at the University
of Oregon from 1975-1982. He called the U.S. the most
important (and powerful) country in the world and a role
model for all nations in advancing freedom, diversity, and
progress. He said ISESCO was a natural partner with the U.S.
because it was working to advance the same ideals.
--------------
Obama Has Changed the Tone in the Middle East
--------------
3. (SBU) He described the Obama Administration, especially
in the context of President Obama's speeches in Cairo and
Istanbul, where Altwaijri spoke to the President about
ISESCO, as an opportunity to advance cooperation in
education, interfaith dialog, and science. Although he had
traveled to the U.S. in his role as Secretary General since
1991, Altwaijri said he had not traveled to the U.S. since
the 9/11 attacks, which he described as &criminal and
inhuman.8 He said that he would welcome an opportunity to
travel to the U.S. to engage with U.S. policy makers on
greater U.S.-ISESCO cooperation, adding that the previous
administration's policies had produced a &spirit of
antagonism8 toward Islam and that he had felt uncomfortable
traveling to the U.S. up until now.
--------------
Potential Areas for U.S.-ISESCO Cooperation
--------------
4. (SBU) Altwaijri proposed that ISESCO and the USG work to
establish linkages between universities in the U.S. and
Muslim countries, i.e., exchanges of faculty and students,
joint research, and cross cultural lecturing, which he
described as low cost and a good start. ISESCO chairs the
Federation of Islamic World Universities, a consortium of
approximately 250 universities in the Muslim world.
Altwaijri said that such efforts could be followed by
cross-cultural and interfaith dialogue facilitated through
conferences, seminars, and lectures of religious leaders,
which ISESCO could support financially. He said that in the
area of science and technology, ISESCO and the U.S. could
identify scientific research centers that could conduct joint
programs and projects in fields of common interest.
5. (SBU) Altwaijri reiterated the content of an ISESCO
letter sent to the Embassy on July 21 which welcomed an
official USG invitation for Secretary General Altwaijri to
visit the U.S. to establish a cooperative &framework of
action.8 (Note: The letter had been precipitated by an
introductory, July 20 meeting between the ISESCO Chief of
Staff and PolCouns. ISESCO proposed that the visit contain
the following elements: Official meetings (White House,
State Department, Congress, Special Envoy to the Islamic
World); media interviews with al-Hurra and other press
institutions; a speech at one of the universities in the
Washington, D.C., area for an audience of academics, members
of civil society, and ambassadors; and a signature ceremony
of a partnership protocol between ISESCO and the USG (and/or
important American institutions) in one of the
RABAT 00000667 002 OF 002
above-mentioned areas of cooperation.
--------------
ISESCO's Other Activities
--------------
6. (SBU) Underscoring ISESCO's successful track record of
partnering with other institutions, Altwaijri noted that
ISESCO will hold a conference with the World Bank on the
&knowledge economy8 in Tunis in December; a conference
among Ministers of Education from various countries in Kuala
Lumpur next year; and a meeting of the Federation of Islamic
World Universities in Baku in March 2010. He said that
ISESCO already has an agreement with the Texas consortium of
colleges, which Altwaijri said could serve as a model for
other U.S. university partnering arrangements.
-------------- --------------
Middle East Unrest Threatens ISESCO-U.S. Cooperation
-------------- --------------
7. (SBU) Although ISESCO remains optimistic about the
prospects of ISESCO-U.S. cooperation, Altwaijri cautioned
that anything that ISESCO and the U.S. accomplish together
will largely be eclipsed if a durable Israeli-Palestinian
peace is not found, with security for the Israelis and a
state for the Palestinians. He opined that there was little
confidence in the Muslim world that Israeli Prime Minister
Netanyahu truly intends to permit the formation of a
Palestinian state. He called Israel's defiance of U.S.
pressure to stop expansion of Israeli settlements in the West
Bank troubling. He asserted his belief that without
continued pressure from the U.S. and the European Union,
Israel would not make a peace deal.
--------------
Good Prospects for the Future
--------------
8. (SBU) The meeting concluded with the understanding that
Embassy and ISESCO staffs would follow up at the working
level to advance the discussed areas of cooperation.
Altwaijri agreed with the concept of using the Embassy as a
conduit of communication to the USG.
--------------
Comment
--------------
9. (SBU) The Embassy's ground breaking contact with ISESCO
presents a prime avenue for the USG to advance outreach to
Muslims as called for in President Obama's Cairo and Istanbul
speeches as ISESCO already coordinates and promulgates
exchanges, outreach, and partnership among Muslim populations
in many of the areas the President identified. We recommend
the Department's timely consideration for inviting ISESCO
Secretary General Altwaijri to Washington to advance this
potential opening. End Comment.
*****************************************
Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website;
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Moro cco
*****************************************
Jackson
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
STATE FOR S/P, R, NEA, OES, NEA/PI AND NEA/MAG
NSC FOR PRADEEP RAMAMURTHY
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL OEXC SOCI KISL PINR MO
SUBJECT: MUSLIM ENGAGEMENT: OPPORTUNITIES FOR COOPERATION
WITH ISESCO
REF: RABAT 0638
1. (SBU) Summary: The Islamic Educational, Scientific, and
Cultural Organization (ISESCO) could facilitate linkages
between U.S. and Islamic world universities, ISESCO Director
General Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri told the Charge on July
24. Altwaijri, an admirer of the U.S., proposed that such
linkages could then be expanded into the areas of interfaith
dialogue and scientific research. Altwaijri hoped for an
official invitation to Washington to meet with U.S. policy
makers and other officials to further discuss and inaugurate
a new era of cooperation between ISESCO and the U.S. The
Embassy views this opening with ISESCO as a prime opportunity
for the U.S. to advance enhanced engagement with the Muslim
World, as called for in President Obama's June 4 speech in
Cairo. We recommend the Department's timely consideration
for inviting ISESCO Director General Altwaijri to Washington
to advance this potential opening, possibly focusing on
exchanges of faculty and students, joint research, and cross
cultural lectures. End Summary.
2. (SBU) On July 24, Charge, Acting DCM and Public Affairs
Counselor, PolCouns, A/EconCouns, and D/PolCouns paid a
courtesy call on ISESCO Director General Abdulaziz Othman
Altwaijri and Chief of Staff Ahmed Said Ould Bah at ISESCO
Headquarters in Rabat to discuss engagement between the U.S.
and ISESCO. Altwaijri opened the meeting by expressing his
admiration for the U.S., where he studied at the University
of Oregon from 1975-1982. He called the U.S. the most
important (and powerful) country in the world and a role
model for all nations in advancing freedom, diversity, and
progress. He said ISESCO was a natural partner with the U.S.
because it was working to advance the same ideals.
--------------
Obama Has Changed the Tone in the Middle East
--------------
3. (SBU) He described the Obama Administration, especially
in the context of President Obama's speeches in Cairo and
Istanbul, where Altwaijri spoke to the President about
ISESCO, as an opportunity to advance cooperation in
education, interfaith dialog, and science. Although he had
traveled to the U.S. in his role as Secretary General since
1991, Altwaijri said he had not traveled to the U.S. since
the 9/11 attacks, which he described as &criminal and
inhuman.8 He said that he would welcome an opportunity to
travel to the U.S. to engage with U.S. policy makers on
greater U.S.-ISESCO cooperation, adding that the previous
administration's policies had produced a &spirit of
antagonism8 toward Islam and that he had felt uncomfortable
traveling to the U.S. up until now.
--------------
Potential Areas for U.S.-ISESCO Cooperation
--------------
4. (SBU) Altwaijri proposed that ISESCO and the USG work to
establish linkages between universities in the U.S. and
Muslim countries, i.e., exchanges of faculty and students,
joint research, and cross cultural lecturing, which he
described as low cost and a good start. ISESCO chairs the
Federation of Islamic World Universities, a consortium of
approximately 250 universities in the Muslim world.
Altwaijri said that such efforts could be followed by
cross-cultural and interfaith dialogue facilitated through
conferences, seminars, and lectures of religious leaders,
which ISESCO could support financially. He said that in the
area of science and technology, ISESCO and the U.S. could
identify scientific research centers that could conduct joint
programs and projects in fields of common interest.
5. (SBU) Altwaijri reiterated the content of an ISESCO
letter sent to the Embassy on July 21 which welcomed an
official USG invitation for Secretary General Altwaijri to
visit the U.S. to establish a cooperative &framework of
action.8 (Note: The letter had been precipitated by an
introductory, July 20 meeting between the ISESCO Chief of
Staff and PolCouns. ISESCO proposed that the visit contain
the following elements: Official meetings (White House,
State Department, Congress, Special Envoy to the Islamic
World); media interviews with al-Hurra and other press
institutions; a speech at one of the universities in the
Washington, D.C., area for an audience of academics, members
of civil society, and ambassadors; and a signature ceremony
of a partnership protocol between ISESCO and the USG (and/or
important American institutions) in one of the
RABAT 00000667 002 OF 002
above-mentioned areas of cooperation.
--------------
ISESCO's Other Activities
--------------
6. (SBU) Underscoring ISESCO's successful track record of
partnering with other institutions, Altwaijri noted that
ISESCO will hold a conference with the World Bank on the
&knowledge economy8 in Tunis in December; a conference
among Ministers of Education from various countries in Kuala
Lumpur next year; and a meeting of the Federation of Islamic
World Universities in Baku in March 2010. He said that
ISESCO already has an agreement with the Texas consortium of
colleges, which Altwaijri said could serve as a model for
other U.S. university partnering arrangements.
-------------- --------------
Middle East Unrest Threatens ISESCO-U.S. Cooperation
-------------- --------------
7. (SBU) Although ISESCO remains optimistic about the
prospects of ISESCO-U.S. cooperation, Altwaijri cautioned
that anything that ISESCO and the U.S. accomplish together
will largely be eclipsed if a durable Israeli-Palestinian
peace is not found, with security for the Israelis and a
state for the Palestinians. He opined that there was little
confidence in the Muslim world that Israeli Prime Minister
Netanyahu truly intends to permit the formation of a
Palestinian state. He called Israel's defiance of U.S.
pressure to stop expansion of Israeli settlements in the West
Bank troubling. He asserted his belief that without
continued pressure from the U.S. and the European Union,
Israel would not make a peace deal.
--------------
Good Prospects for the Future
--------------
8. (SBU) The meeting concluded with the understanding that
Embassy and ISESCO staffs would follow up at the working
level to advance the discussed areas of cooperation.
Altwaijri agreed with the concept of using the Embassy as a
conduit of communication to the USG.
--------------
Comment
--------------
9. (SBU) The Embassy's ground breaking contact with ISESCO
presents a prime avenue for the USG to advance outreach to
Muslims as called for in President Obama's Cairo and Istanbul
speeches as ISESCO already coordinates and promulgates
exchanges, outreach, and partnership among Muslim populations
in many of the areas the President identified. We recommend
the Department's timely consideration for inviting ISESCO
Secretary General Altwaijri to Washington to advance this
potential opening. End Comment.
*****************************************
Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website;
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Moro cco
*****************************************
Jackson