VZCZCXRO1783
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHLH RUEHPA RUEHPW RUEHROV
DE RUEHDK #0500/01 1211002
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 301002Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0398
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 0038
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV PRIORITY 0092

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 000500 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR IO/UNP, EUR/SCE, NEA/IAP, AND AF/W 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KISL OIC IS SY KV SG
SUBJECT: OIC SPECIAL ENVOY MEETS WITH SENEGALESE FOREIGN 
MINISTER 
 
REF: DAKARA 496 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Jay T. Smith for reasons 1.5 B/D 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary: On April 22 Special Envoy to the 
Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Sada Cumber, 
accompanied by Charge and political counselor, met with 
Senegalese Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidane Gadio to discuss 
his country,s new role as chair of the 57-nation OIC 
following Senegal,s hosting of the OIC summit in March. 
Special Envoy Cumber shared with the Foreign Minister his 
plan for supporting the OIC,s initiatives and the MOU he 
hopes to sign with the OIC Secretary General (SG).  Gadio 
complemented the United States for creating the special envoy 
position and Special Envoy Cumber on his proposals to assist 
the OIC,s development initiatives.  He urged President Bush 
to invite the OIC SG and Senegal,s president to the White 
house and for the three of them, along with the Special 
Envoy, to speak out publicly about the importance of holding 
an Islamo-Judeo-Christian dialogue.  End summary. 
 
U.S. Support for OIC Initiatives 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Special Envoy Cumber met with Foreign Minister 
Gadio after having met with Senegalese President Abdoulaye 
Wade.  He congratulated Senegal on the success of the OIC 
Summit.  He told Foreign Minister Gadio that he hoped to work 
closely with President Wade and OIC Secretary General 
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu explaining that the his role as OIC 
Special Envoy was not only to act as the U.S. representative 
to the OIC, its members, and Muslim communities in non-OIC 
countries, but also to oversee U.S. support for the OIC,s 
initiatives.  Special Envoy Cumber shared with Gadio the 
draft MOU that he hoped to sign with SG Ihsanoglu and 
outlined the three areas on which the United States would 
focus -- science and technology, enhancing the status of 
women, and education ) emphasizing that these themes were 
drawn from the OIC,s initiatives.  Moreover, he informed 
Gadio of his plan to establish a digital library in the ten 
poorest OIC member countries. 
 
The Importance of Senegalese Leadership as OIC Chair 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶3.  (C) The Special Envoy emphasized the U.S. desire to be 
supportive of the OIC,s own initiatives and stressed the USG 
does not wish to impose anything on the OIC and its members. 
He asked Gadio for his guidance and support.  The OIC members 
would benefit greatly from President Wade,s leadership and 
experience, he said, urging the Senegalese President to size 
the opportunity of OIC chairmanship to steer the OIC members 
in the same moderate direction that Senegal has followed. 
 
U.S. Muslims as Role Model for Muslim World 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) Special Envoy Cumber noted the positive example the 
more than five million Muslims in the United States could 
serve for the world,s Muslims.  He emphasized that although 
there was great philosophical, cultural, and national 
diversity in the U.S. Muslim population there was also great 
harmony.  This combination of diversity and harmony should 
serve as a model for the diverse groups of Muslims in the 
world, he said. 
 
Islamic-Christian Dialogue or &Three Revealed Religions8 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶5.  (C) In addition, Special Envoy Cumber informed Foreign 
Minister Gadio of his plan to organize a summit at the White 
House with heads of the 10-15 largest Muslim development NGOs 
and expressed support for President Wade,s proposal to 
organize a dialogue between the West and the Muslim world. 
During the Special Envoy,s meeting with President Wade 
(reftel), Wade emphasized that the dialogue should be an 
Islamic-Christian dialogue not a Islamo-Judeo-Christian 
dialogue as proposed by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. 
Gadio, however, opined that there was not enough time left in 
President Bush,s term to organize a dialogue and instead 
asked the Special Envoy to urge President Bush to invited 
President Wade and the OIC SG to the White House to speak 
about the importance of openness and tolerance, suggesting 
that their comments could be geared toward the three revealed 
religions along the lines of Saudi King Abdullah,s proposal 
for an Islamo-Judeo-Chrsitian dialogue. 
 
 
DAKAR 00000500  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶6.  (C) Gadio urged the United States to take advantage of 
the Senegalese chairmanship of the OIC.  He said that Senegal 
would be working closely with the OIC SG during the next 
three years.  President Wade and the OIC SG both have the 
vision and openness necessary to make a difference, he 
argued.  He suggested that the United States take on the 
problem of &Islamophobia,8 which was one of the themes 
addressed at this year,s OIC summit.  While commenting that 
he personally was not worried about this phenomenon, he 
observed that many Muslims are convinced that Islamophobia is 
widespread.  By tackling this issue head on, it would endear 
the United States to many in the Muslim world, he asserted. 
 
Recognition of Kosovo 
--------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C) Special Envoy Cumber urged Foreign Minister Gadio to 
use his influence to persuade OIC members to recognize 
Kosovo.  Gadio responded that Senegal had worked to convince 
many OIC members before the summit.  He reported that several 
Arab countries asked rhetorically why is acceptable for the 
Kosovars to declare independence, but the same is not true 
for the Palestinians.  When asked about the Africa bloc, 
Gadio said that many African countries did not feel 
particularly close to the issue and that they expressed 
concerns about setting a dangerous precedent for separatist 
movements given the artificial nature of Africa,s colonially 
derived borders.  According to Gadio, Qatar, Kuwait, and 
others indicated before the summit that they were prepared to 
recognize Kosovo before the summit, but failed to do so.  He 
undertook to contact them and Gabon to urge them to do so 
now.  Gadio also promised to work on persuading other 
countries in the Africa bloc to recognize Kosovo. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8.  (C) While President Wade seemed to have difficulties in 
separating his roles as chair of the OIC and president of 
Senegal when he met with the Special Envoy, his Foreign 
Minister clearly believes that Senegal can have a significant 
impact on the OIC members and the Muslim world during its 
three-year chairmanship.  Moreover, he clearly believes it is 
in the mutual interest of the United States and Senegal to 
take advantage of this window of opportunity.  Senegal,s 
history as tolerant, moderate society with a large Muslim 
majority and a dynamic Catholic minority and its heretofore 
relatively successful democratic institutions marry up nicely 
with the Special Envoy,s message about religious harmony and 
diversity in the United States serving as a model for the 
Muslim world.  Moreover, if President Bush were to take up 
the Foreign Minister,s suggestion of a White House summit 
with President Wade and the OIC SG, there is little doubt 
that President Wade, who craves the spotlight of the world 
stage would, would do his best to promote such a move among 
the OIC members. 
 
¶11.  (U) This cable was cleared by Special Envoy Sada Cumber. 
SMITH