VZCZCXRO9225
PP RUEHDE
DE RUEHJI #0346/01 1300653
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 100653Z MAY 06
FM AMCONSUL JEDDAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9131
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 1367
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1445
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 6469
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 JEDDAH 000346 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
RIYADH, PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN; PARIS FOR ZEYA; LONDON FOR 
TSOU; DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP; DEPARTMENT FOR DRL/IRF - 
 
SIPDIS 
PLEASE PASS TO AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE JOHN HANFORD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/06/2016 
TAGS: KIRF PGOV PHUM SA SOCI
SUBJECT: PAKISTANI CHRISTIAN WORSHIP IN JEDDAH 
 
REF: A. JEDDAH 00237 
 
     ¶B. JEDDAH 00308 
     ¶C. JEDDAH 00328 
     ¶D. JEDDAH 00333 
 
Classified By: Consul General Tatiana Gfoeller for reasons 
1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY. On May 6, as part of the Consulate's ongoing 
efforts to conduct a long-term inquiry into Christian worship 
in Jeddah, ConGenOff met with a Pakistani preacher who heads 
an all-Pakistani Evangelical church based in Jeddah.  Their 
group has the support of the Consul General of Pakistan and 
worships both at the Pakistani ConGen and at private homes. 
The preacher admitted that, because there is lack of Bible 
study materials in the Kingdom, he encourages his 
congregation to smuggle said materials into Saudi Arabia. 
While he and his followers do not actively try to convert 
Muslims to Christianity, they do seek out other 
non-Christians or non-believers (Hindus specifically) and try 
to convert them.  The preacher was not aware of any recent or 
new arrests of Christian worshipers in the Western province, 
but did claim that in the past year authorities in the Nejran 
province have detained over 200 Christians.  Each was 
detained for no more than one day and released as part of a 
SAG-sponsored "scare tactic".  When asked why there were so 
many arrests in that part of the Kingdom, the preacher 
replied, "They are tribal people who do not know anything 
about Christianity so they are scared by it." He and other 
Evangelical groups are prepared to utilize the "corrupt, 
underground" channels that exist within the Saudi law 
enforcement establishment to free anyone who may be arrested 
in the coming months.  SR 15,000 will buy a detainee's 
freedom and a Yemeni passport with which he can flee the 
country.  END SUMMARY. 
 
BIBLE SMUGGLING 
 
¶2. (C) On May 6, ConGenOff met with a Pakistani preacher who 
is head of an all-Pakistani Evangelical church based in 
Jeddah.  He began the conversation by telling ConGenOff that 
he knew of many fragmented Arab Christian worship groups in 
and around Jeddah.  The groups' members hail from Syria, 
Lebanon, and Egypt.  Once a month, the groups' leaders meet 
in the outskirts of Jeddah to discuss how they can strengthen 
their Christian communities and how they can obtain Bible 
study materials.  According to him, neither his ministry nor 
the Arab ministries with which he communicates regularly use 
Bibles during their worship.  He admitted that he actively 
encourages his congregation to smuggle Bibles into the 
Kingdom whenever they return from vacation. 
 
¶3. (C) The preacher recounted the story of a time when he and 
his young son returned to Jeddah from their vacation in 
Europe with a large box filled with Bibles.  When the Saudi 
inspector scanned the box, he noticed that it was filled with 
books and asked the preacher about it.  He recalled, "I just 
started telling him that they were all books for my other 
children who were at home with my wife in Jeddah. He asked me 
to open it and I said, 'Why, man? These books are for my 
children.' After a few minutes he let me go without opening 
it. I had twenty new Bibles."  Not everyone is so lucky.  The 
preacher's brother, who is opening his own Evangelical church 
in Jeddah, was caught smuggling a dozen Bibles at Jeddah 
airport earlier this year.  The inspector let his brother go 
without filing a report.  "Maybe this man (the inspector) 
wanted the Bibles for himself and so didn't want to report 
it...there are many Saudis who are secretly Christian, or 
maybe he wanted to sell them." 
 
¶4. (C) When questioned by ConGenOff about the ease with which 
Bibles can be smuggled into the Kingdom, the preacher said 
that, with the advent of scanners at the airport, it is 
easier now than it used to be.  In the past, he explained, 
every box and suitcase would be opened and hand-searched by 
inspectors.  Now they just scan every item and do so 
haphazardly.  "If it is not obvious to the machine, it is not 
obvious to them."  Further, the preacher said that many of 
the baggage handlers at Jeddah airport are Pakistani and 
Bangladeshi Christians.  The preacher claims that he and his 
followers know the baggage handlers with whom they can 
entrust their luggage and boxes filled with Christian worship 
 
JEDDAH 00000346  002 OF 003 
 
 
materials, and that these particular handlers will help 
negotiate the movement of said baggage through the airport 
without inspection.  NOTE. The preacher added that members of 
his congregation do not try to smuggle Bibles in through the 
mail because they believe that mail coming into Saudi Arabia 
is much more closely scrutinized for various prohibited 
items, including pornography and alcohol.  END NOTE. 
 
PAKISTANI CG'S SUPPORT 
 
¶5. (C) According to the preacher, the Consulate General of 
Pakistan in Jeddah and the Embassy of Pakistan in Riyadh 
provide on-site facilities for occasional Christian worship. 
While he knew less about the interaction between the Embassy 
and various all-Pakistani Evangelist ministries in Riyadh, 
the preacher claimed to have a close working relationship 
with the Pakistani CG in Jeddah.  The Consul General, a 
graduate of a Christian secondary school, supports the 
preacher's activities, but regularly reminds him that there 
are serious risks involved with congregating at private homes 
in Jeddah.  "He is very supportive," claimed the preacher. 
"He lets us use the big hall in the Consulate for Easter and 
Christmas every year, and whenever we have a special event, 
like a marriage, but he tells us it is not advisable to 
worship as a group outside of the Consulate where we are 
safe." 
 
CONVERTING NON-BELIEVERS: HINDUS WILL DO 
 
¶6. (C) ConGenOff asked the Pakistani preacher if he and his 
Evangelical ministry actively try and convert Muslims to 
Christianity.  He said that they do not.  He added, however, 
that while they don't openly proselytize to Muslims, they do 
seek out other non-Christians or non-believers and try to 
convert them to Christianity.  The preacher specifically 
spoke about Hindus in Saudi Arabia, explaining "they have not 
yet found the word of God...it is our job to help them find 
it."  This year alone, he claims, his group has converted two 
Nepali men and one Bangladeshi man to Christianity.  Later in 
the conversation, the preacher did admit that if a Saudi came 
to them seeking information about Christianity, a member of 
the congregation would counsel them about "what it means to 
be Christian" and why they should convert.  He emphatically 
reiterated his earlier point, however, that they only speak 
to Muslims about Christianity when Muslims ask about it. 
They do not want to provoke "trouble" from the Saudi 
government for "spreading the word of God." 
 
¶7. (C)  The preacher recounted a story of a Saudi man who was 
sick in the hospital.  A member of his congregation got word 
of this man's plight and went to the hospital with several 
other Pakistani Christians to pray for the Saudi man's 
recovery.  After a week, the sick man who "was practically 
dead" made a sudden recovery.  It was clearly a miracle. 
"The family realized that he got well because we prayed for 
him.  They wanted to know all about Christianity.  The man's 
daughter came to our church two times to share our 
Evangelical prayers.  We taught her verses from the Bible and 
showed her how God works in her life. She is now a 
Christian." 
 
NEJRANIS ARE MORE SENSITIVE TO CHRISTIANITY 
 
¶8. (C) ConGenOff asked the preacher what he knew about other 
Christian groups in the Western province.  He said that he 
was most familiar with groups in and around Abha and Nejran 
in the southwest of Saudi Arabia.  According to him, 
Christian Indians, Filipinos, Pakistanis, and Nigerians have 
developed small ministries there, but operate in a much more 
restrictive environment.  Wary of drawing attention to 
themselves, the preacher said that these Christians can only 
meet in groups of two or three, as opposed to the fifty or 
sixty member groups that congregate in Jeddah.  Over 200 
Christians have been arrested in Nejran and Abha over the 
past year, claimed the preacher, but all were released within 
one day. "It's a scare tactic," he said.  When asked how he 
knew about these arrests, the preacher said, "I get word of 
it from my Christian brothers and sisters."  COMMENT. 
AmConGen Jeddah has no further evidence of this large number 
of detentions in the Nejran province.  It is, to date, 
unconfirmed.  END COMMENT. 
 
 
JEDDAH 00000346  003 OF 003 
 
 
¶9. (C) When asked why he believed there were so many 
Christian arrests in that part of the region, the preacher 
said, "It is because people from Nejran are more sensitive. 
They are not exposed to different things like in Jeddah. They 
are tribal people who do not know anything about Christianity 
so they are scared by it and sensitive about anyone 
worshipping our Lord Jesus Christ."  The preacher added that 
Saudis living in the Nejran province are also suspicious of 
Christians because singing is a large part of their worship. 
"They think that because we sing we are performing magic and 
so they don't trust us." 
 
SR 15,000 BUYS FREEDOM AND A YEMENI PASSPORT 
 
¶10. (C) The preacher said that he has never been arrested in 
Saudi Arabia for his faith.  He claims that he was a 
"non-believer" when he came to Saudi Arabia over 20 years 
ago, and that when he first converted to Christianity he was 
scared of being persecuted in the Kingdom for his beiefs and 
actions.  "But when I read the word of od, I was encouraged. 
If I have to go to jail, Ihave to go to jail. I will do it 
for Him."  When sked if there were any new or recent arrest 
case with which he was familiar, the preacher said he id 
not know of any.  However,he did state that his congregation 
and the network of Christian ministries in Jeddah are 
prepared to provide funds for the release of any Christians 
who are arrested in the Western province.  He said he has a 
"feeling" that Saudi authorities are gearing up to crack-down 
on Christian worship in the Kingdom.  When ConGenOff inquired 
about any specific threats, the preacher said that he did not 
know anything, but would keep AmConGen Jeddah abreast of the 
situation. 
 
¶11. (C) The Pakistani preacher informed ConGenOff that he and 
his ministry have historically helped negotiate the timely 
release of "religious prisoners" in Saudi Arabia by utilizing 
the "underground" channels that exist in the Kingdom.  He 
explained that for about SR 15,000 (USD 4,000) the Jeddah 
Evangelical church is able to pay-off local police to release 
someone who has been detained for practicing Christianity. 
Further, that SR 15,000 will buy a fraudulent Yemeni passport 
that the detainee can then use to depart the Kingdom through 
Yemen. He said the last time they had to use these "corrupt, 
underground" channels was in 2002, but he quickly remarked 
that they are prepared to use it again if they have to.  The 
money is donated from various "churches" from throughout the 
Kingdom that take up collections at their services. "People 
are very generous when one of their brothers or sisters is 
arrested," declared the preacher. 
 
¶12. (C) COMMENT. The preacher seemed proud that he and his 
fellow Evangelists were able to "work it out" with the Saudis 
by using these underground channels; the pride stemming from 
the fact that he understands how "everything in the Kingdom 
works".  However, despite his boasting about his knowledge of 
the secret inner-workings of the Saudi law enforcement 
establishment, the preacher claimed that he did not know 
where the Yemeni passports came from.  While he was very 
forthcoming and talkative during the entire conversation, he 
avoided answering ConGenOff's questions about who provided 
the passports.  ConGenOff did not press the issue.  END 
COMMENT. 
Gfoeller