R 230809Z SEP 92
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 8640
INFO AMEMBASSY CAIRO

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