SUDAN'S TURABI ON "INTERNATIONALISM OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 07039


E.O. 12356:DECL:OADR
TAGS: PREL KISL SU
SUBJECT: SUDAN'S TURABI ON "INTERNATIONALISM OF
ISLAM," AL BASHIR ON "A NATION OF MESSAGE"


1. CONFIDENTIAL - ENTIRE TEXT.


2. SUMMARY: THE LEADER OF SUDAN'S NATIONAL ISLAMIC
FRONT SPELLED OUT TO THOUSANDS OF HIS FOLLOWERS HERE
SEPTEMBER 14TH, THE INTERNATIONAL CHARACTER OF ISLAM
AND, IN PARTICULAR, THE NEED FOR MUSLIMS TO USE THE
RELIGION AS A SHIELD AGAINST THE POWER OF THE WEST.
END SUMMARY.


3. IN A LONG SERMON BILLED AS A LECTURE IN THE
QURAN UNIVERSITY'S SEMINAR ON THE "INTERNATIONALISM
OF ISLAM," NIF LEADER DR. HASSAN AL TURABI TOLD AN
OVERFLOW CROWD THAT ISLAM ENCOMPASSES EVERYTHING IN
LIFE AND IS A WIDELY SPREADING FAITH ALL OVER THE
WORLD. HE SAID MUSLIMS SHOULD PROSELYTIZE WITH
THEIR RELIGION JUST AS OTHER RELIGIONS PRESENT
THEMSELVES TO THE MUSLIM WORLD. HE URGED MUSLIMS TO
"UNDERSTAND ISLAM PERFECTLY" AND TO WORK FOR UNITY,
JUST AS HE SAID THE WEST HAS DOING.


4. TAKING ON THE NEW WORLD ORDER, TURABI TOLD HIS
AUDIENCE THAT MUSLIMS SHOULD BE MOTIVATED TO
ESTABLISH AN "ISLAMIC SYSTEM" IN THEIR COUNTRIES
BECAUSE OF ATTEMPTS BY THE WEST TO "IMPOSE" THE NEW
WORLD ORDER, ITS OWN SYSTEM, ON THEM. THE WEST, HE
SAID, INTENDED TO EXTEND THE NEW WORLD ORDER
UNIVERSALLY; "NO COUNTRY HAS THE RIGHT OR OPTION TO
APPLY ANOTHER SYSTEM."


5. TURABI UNLOOSED A STREAM OF CRITICISM OF AMERICA
AND WESTERN EUROPE. CALLS FOR DEMOCRACY AND JUSTICE
WERE HYPERCRITICAL, HE SAID; THE WEST DOES NOT IN
FACT PRACTICE THESE. INTERNATIONAL LAW, ITSELF A
WESTERN CONCEPT, IS APPLIED BY THE WEST ONLY WHEN IT
SERVES WESTERN ADVANTAGE.


6. TURABI GAVE FOR AN EXAMPLE THE CASE OF THE
LIBYANS ACCUSED OF BOMBING PAN AM 103. THE CASE
SHOULD HAVE GONE TO THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF
JUSTICE BUT THE WEST INSTEAD USED THE UNITED NATIONS
SECURITY COUNCIL, WHICH IT "DOMINATES," AS ITS TOOL
TO PRESS LIBYA. THE SECURITY COUNCIL, HE
ELABORATED, HAD "A SMALL COUNTRY LIKE ENGLAND"
"PRIVILEGED" TO HAVE A PERMANENT SEAT WHILE INDIA
AND NIGERIA WITH LARGER POPULATIONS DID NOT.


7. AS HE HAS OFTEN DONE BEFORE, TURABI HEAPED SCORN
UPON LEADERS OF MUSLIM COUNTRIES WHO "SURRENDER" TO
THE WEST AND "ABANDON ISLAMIC GUIDANCE." TURABI
SAID THESE MEN (HE NAMED NO NAMES) FED FALSE
INFORMATION TO THE WEST TO "DISFIGURE" ALL ISLAMIC
MOVEMENTS. THESE LEADERS, HE SAID, CARE ONLY FOR
POWER AND POSITION, BOTH OF WHICH THEY WILL LOSE
WHEN ISLAMIC RULE COMES TO THEIR COUNTRIES.


8. CALLING ON THE SUDANESE TO LIVE THEIR LIVES IN
ACCORD WITH ISLAM SO AS TO SERVE AS MODELS FOR
MUSLIM PEOPLE EVERYWHERE, TURABI CONCLUDED BY
WARNING ALL MUSLIM NATIONS TO APPLY ISLAM AS A
SYSTEM TO PROTECT THEMSELVES AGAINST THE NEW WORLD
ORDER AND THE UNITY OF THE WEST.


9. DOUBTLESS TAKING HIS CUE FROM DR. TURABI,
SUDAN'S PRESIDENT, LT. GEM. OMAR HASSAN AL BASHIR IN
A SERIES OF SPEECHES FOLLOWING THE
"INTERNATIONALISM" SEMINAR, SOUNDED CONVERGENT
THEMES. TO A MASS RALLY OF STUDENTS ON THE 15TH, AL
BASHIR SAID SUDAN'S REVOLUTION SOUGHT TO "UNLEASH
THE ENERGIES OF THE SUDANESE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY
WILL BE A SOURCE OF VIGOR AND POWER TO ALL THE
OPPRESSED PEOPLES ON THE EARTH." THE SUDANESE,
ASSERTED AL BASHIR, ARE AN EXAMPLE TO BE FOLLOWED BY
THE OPPRESSED COUNTRIES AND "A NATION OF MESSAGE."


10. ON THE 20TH, TO A QURAN FESTIVAL, AL BASHIR
CALLED FOR "STRENGTHENING TIES BETWEEN ISLAMIC
PEOPLES SO AS TO SPOIL THE INTRIGUES PLANNED AGAINST
THE ISLAMIC PEOPLES BY THE POWERS OF AGGRESSION AND
ATHEISM." CITING THE WEST'S INDIFFERENCE TO THE
SUFFERING OF MUSLIMS IN BOSNIA AND HERCEGOVINA,
IRAQ, LIBYA AND SOMALIA, HE SAID THESE COUNTRIES'
SITUATIONS REVEAL "INTRIGUES AGAINST ISLAM AND THE
MUSLIMS," ALL BEING "WITNESSED BY THE NEW WORLD
ORDER."


11. COMMENT: TURABI'S THEMES, AND THEIR FAITHFUL
ECHO IN THE PRESIDENT'S REMARKS, ARE NOT NEW. NOR
IS TURABI'S PREFERRED ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL IMAM.
HIS SERMONISING STYLE SUITS THOSE SUDANESE, WHO,
LIKE SOME OTHER FUNDAMENTALISTS, ENJOY A ROUSING
PREACHER GOING AFTER SIN AND THE WORKS OF THE
DEVIL. AL BASHIR, NO ORIGINAL THINKER, BUT A USEFUL
SIDE-MAN FOR AMPLIFYING A THEME, ADDS HIS PART. BUT
TURABI'S MESSAGE IS NOT BENIGN AND THE DEVIL HE IS
ATTACKING IS US.


PETTERSON