REQUEST FOR WHITE HOUSE ENDORSEMENT OF

UNCLAS RABAT 000735 SIPDIS STATE FOR R, ECA, IO/UNESCO, NEA/PPD AND NEA/MAG NSC FOR DIRECTOR FOR SYRIA, LEBANON AND NORTH AFRICA MEAGHEN MCDERMOTT E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OEXC PREL OPDC KISL MO SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR WHITE HOUSE ENDORSEMENT OF MATA-RANGI SAHARA EXPEDITION FROM MOROCCO TO FLORIDA ¶1. Summary: This is an action request. UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Kitin Munoz Valcarcel is planning a fourth Mata-Rangi expedition -- from Tarfaya, Morocco, to Florida in 2010. Munoz has the support of King Mohammed VI of Morocco and UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura. Munoz seeks no financial support from the United States but would like moral support in the form of a letter of endorsement from the President, especially in the context of U.S. efforts to build stronger ties with Muslim and African countries. Munoz has previously received official endorsements from the King, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Spain, as well as the Presidents of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia and Panama. Munoz's plan and request are outlined in paragraph 3, and a proposed response may be found in paragraph ¶4. End summary. ¶2. During 40 years of studies and expeditions, Munoz, a member of the Explorers Club of New York, has previously made four expeditions aboard reed rafts: from Peru to Tahiti in 1987, to Easter Island in 1997, from Chile to the Marquesas Islands in 1999, and from Spain to Cape Verde in 2001. He has decided to bring together Moroccan, Bolivian and Iraqi craftsmen to construct a new boat, the Mata- Rangi Sahara, in Tarfaya, Morocco, starting this winter and then sail it to Florida in the spring. He chose Florida as his destination in part because a slave named Mustafa Zemmouri who was more commonly known as Estevanico, the first Moroccan and first African known to have reached what has become the Continental United States, traveled to Florida and Texas in 1527 and modern-day New Mexico and Arizona by 1537. ¶3. The text of Ambassador Munoz's letter follows. Begin text. TO MR. BARACK OBAMA PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Rabat - July 16th, 2009 Mr. President, Please let me begin by sincerely congratulating you for your decisive development actions, both in the United States of American and worldwide. At the international level, your work greatly symbolizes a message of peace among peoples and nations, large and small, rich or poor, on the voice of development, for a better united world. �00A;Explorer of ethnology, working since 1988 in the field of experimental archeology and primitive navigation, I have the great honor to present you, Sir, my new expedition: MATA-RANGI SAHARA EXPEDITION: MOROCCO-AMERICA. Like my previous four trips, this expedition's main objective is to cross the Atlantic ocean on a reed raft, built according to ancient traditional methods, to demonstrate the maritime abilities of primitive people, who have, long before Columbus, transported their culture between islands and between continents. Backed by UNESCO and several institutions and universities, the expedition project will also hold debates, studies and scientific conferences, highlighting the skills and lifestyles of ancient cultures and their historical interrelationships in order to attract the attention of the international community for the necessary preservation of the contemporary relics of these cultures. The new Mata-Rangi Sahara raft will be built in Tarfaya, a small town in the Kingdom of Morocco, located in the desert, facing the sea. It is in Tarfaya that Antoine de Saint-Exupry wrote his major work, "The Little Prince". A camp of "Khaima", black tents of nomadic desert tribes, will house, for several months, the work of an international scientific team, while Bolivian, Iraqi and Moroccan craftsmen unite their efforts to build the vessel using Totora reeds which grow in Titicaca Lake, Bolivia. The maritime voyage will begin in Morocco at the port of Tarfaya to finish on the shores of Florida in the United States. The crew will be multicultural, Moroccan, American and European. Upon its' arrival, the expedition will be an opportunity to organize, in the United States, a grand scientific and cultural exhibition. Mata- Rangi Sahara Expedition will convey a message of peace from the Arab-Muslim world to the West and the international community. The expedition has been blessed by His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco. Mr. President, considering the moral, humanitarian and cultural framework of this project which is aligned with the spirit of openness and cooperation conveyed by the United States of America on a global scale, I seek your support for the Mata-Rangi Sahara Expedition. Your blessing will be crucial to the success of this project. All participants - crew, craftsmen and scientists - would perceive it as an exceptional moral motivation. Hoping for a positive response to my request, I remain at your disposal for any information and I ask you, Sir, to accept the assurances of my most respectful greetings. /S/ Kitin Munoz Valcarcel MATA-RANGI SHARA EXPEDITION End text. ¶4. A draft letter of endorsement follows. Begin text. The White House Washington, D.C. 20500 Dear Mr. Ambassador, Thank you for sharing your plans to construct the Mata-Rangi Sahara and to sail it from Morocco to the United States in 2010. As my Administration and I endeavor to establish stronger ties between the United States and both Muslim and African nations, it is fitting that such a journey begin in the first country to recognize the independent United States. I understand that modern-day Morocco is also your place of birth but that you will employ not only Moroccan craftsmen but also Bolivians and Iraqis to help you and your Moroccan, American and European crew to carry a message of peace from the Arab-Muslim World to the West and the international community. We need ideas and efforts such as yours to highlight man's willingness to explore and comprehend himself and others. Sincerely, Barack Obama End text. ¶5. Embassy has pouched Ambassador Munoz's letter and a mission prospectus in a Moroccan leather case to NEA/MAG for delivery to the White House. Please advise. Jackson