VZCZCXRO9384
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHBP #0288 0791430
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191430Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY BAMAKO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8911
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE

UNCLAS BAMAKO 000288 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KISL SOCI PTER ML
SUBJECT: LEADER OF MALIAN HAMALLIYYA DISCUSSES AQIM 
 
REF: 07 BAMAKO 01170 
 
1.(U)  On March 7 Emboffs traveled to Nioro du Sahel, on 
Mali's western border with Mauritania, to meet two of Mali's 
most important Sufi religious leaders: Amadou Hady Tall, the 
Khalif General of Malian Tidjani Muslims; and Mohamed Ould 
Cheikhna, the Sherif of Malian Hamallist Muslims.  As the 
seat of Mali's two main Sufi traditions, the quiet town of 
Nioro holds as much, if not more, religious importance for 
contemporary Malians than the larger and more celebrated 
religious centers of Djenne and Timbuktu (Ref A).  While 
Djenne and Timbuktu are known for their historical importance 
and mud-brick mosques, tens of thousands of Malians make 
pilgrimages to Nioro - not Timbuktu or Djenne - each year for 
a chance to glimpse the living leaders of Malian Islam. 
 
2.(SBU)  Both Tall and Cheikhna have proved to be exceedingly 
open to the U.S. Embassy.  As the leader of Mali's Hamalliyya 
Sufi order, Cheikhna moves through Nioro with an entourage 
that consists of his numerous adult children, many devoted 
followers and new vehicles sent by adherents throughout the 
world.  During this visit, he was using a new Land Cruiser 
with UAE plates and a new Lincoln sedan with Ohio vanity 
plates that read "Sahara C" - possibly short for "Sahara 
Cherif". 
 
3.(U)  During an hour long meeting with EmbOffs, Cheikhna 
noted that while Djenne and Timbuktu offer history and old 
buildings, only in Nioro can one speak with the living 
leaders of Mali's Islamic traditions.  He offered, 
unprompted, his views on the recent killing by AQIM of French 
tourists in southern Mauritania.  As a speaker of Hasaniya (a 
language  akin to Arabic common in Mauritania and Northern 
Mali), Chiekhna is culturally closer to Mauritania than to 
Mali.  Chiekhna said those guilty of killing the French 
tourists were not Muslims and that he was concerned about the 
number of individuals encouraging violence in the name of 
Islam.  These people, said Chiekhna, do not know the Koran 
and are not Muslims. 
 
4.(U)  Cheikhna's family history adds weight to his opinions 
of AQIM and radical Islam.  During the 1930s and 40s the 
French exiled Cheikhna's father and executed several of his 
brothers in the town of Yelimane in western Mali.  Cheikhna 
said the appeal of the Hamallist Sufi order across Mali 
stems, in large part, from his father's peaceful response to 
French colonial persecution.  Non-violence and respect for 
the lives of others is therefore a key tenet of Cheikhna and 
his followers' interpretation of Islam. 
MCCULLEY