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C O N F I D E N T I A L ADDIS ABABA 000217 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/07/2015 
TAGS: PTER PGOV ET
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: COMBATING EXTREMISM 
 
REF: A. STATE 159129 
 
     ¶B. ADDIS ABABA 3984 
 
Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES A.I. VICKI HUDDLESTON. REASON: 1.4 (B) 
 AND (D) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary and Background: Ethiopia has a long-standing 
tradition of religious tolerance between Christian and 
Islamic communities. Christian and Muslim religious leaders 
are quick to point out that intermingled communities attend 
each others weddings, births, deaths, etc., although there 
have been limited frictions as well. Ethiopia's population of 
73 million is roughly evenly split between followers of Islam 
and Orthodox Christianity.  Islam is most prevalent in 
Ethiopia's eastern and central regions of Afar, Somali, and 
Oromiya. The prevailing attitude among the bulk of Ethiopia's 
Muslim population is that "Wahabism" is "foreign," and things 
foreign continue to be viewed with great caution and 
suspicion. However, Saudi-backed NGOs have financed the 
construction of mosques and schools throughout the country, 
particularly in Oromiya region. Some Muslims have complained 
recently that the Government of Ethiopia has made it more 
difficult to construct Islamic schools or for Islamic 
charities to operate. A recent survey of Muslim youth groups 
in three key urban areas-- Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa and Harar-- 
indicate that most Ethiopian Muslim youth remain moderate in 
their practice of Islam. In all three cities, the majority of 
youth described Islam as a tolerant, moderate faith. In Addis 
Ababa, however, some Muslim youths stated that they view 
Islam as being under threat from Westerners and Christians. 
(Note: Those interviewed were exclusively male.  End note) 
 
¶2. (C) The Ambassador, Emboffs, and senior USG visitors 
routinely seek calls on Muslim leaders, along with other 
religious group leaders. Muslim participants are sought out 
for receptions, conferences, seminars, etc.  Through USAID, 
assistance is directed toward Muslim regions, including areas 
in the east and west.  The Embassy and other USG agencies 
have also sought to encourage Muslim NGO participation in 
programs such as HIV/AIDS. USAID support is building the 
capacity of the Ethiopian Muslim Development Association 
(EMDA) to carry out development programs. A number of grants 
through the Ambassador's Self-Help Fund and Democracy and 
Human Rights Fund have been awarded to groups in 
predominately Muslim areas. Through the East Africa 
Counter-terrorism Initiative, the USG has supported training 
of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) and 
implemented civil affairs projects (inoculations, bridge and 
school repairs, etc.) through the Combined Joint Task Force 
for the Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) in predominately Muslim 
regions.  These programs are key in changing perceptions of 
the USG and have countered efforts by Islamic radicals to 
subvert moderate Ethiopian Islam. End summary and background. 
 
PUBLIC AFFAIRS ADVOCATES MUSLIM INCLUSION 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) In all of its cultural and educational activities, 
the Public Affairs Section (PAS) is conscious of including 
Muslim participants. For example, in early 2005 PAS hosted 
sixteen screenings and discussions of films with high school 
and university students during Black History Month. Several 
Muslim schools were included in the screenings, as well as 
one university in the predominantly Muslim town of Adama. PAS 
is also actively seeking to recruit a Muslim as its 
educational advisor, a highly visible program which advises 
youth on study in the U.S. 
 
¶4. (SBU) PAS staff have been working to strengthen 
relationships with Muslims in business and public service in 
Ethiopia. Ethiopia was recently added to the list of 
countries participating in the English ACCESS 
Microscholarships Program, a new Department of State 
initiative for underprivileged youth in predominantly Muslim 
countries around the world. This program, which was launched 
in November, will provide part-time English study using U.S. 
books and materials for approximately 80 high school students 
selected from Muslim communities in Addis Ababa. An advisory 
board composed of Muslim business and community leaders will 
serve to guide the program's implementation and as mentors 
and positive role models for scholarship recipients. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The FY2006 Ambassador's Fund for Cultural 
Preservation (AFCP) awarded a grant to the Bureau of Youth, 
Culture, and Sports of the Oromiya Regional State for the 
conservation and structural consolidation of a 13th century 
Muslim shrine, called the Sheikh Nur Hussein Shrine. On 
September 28, Public Affairs hosted several members of the 
Addis Ababa Muslim community for a luncheon. Among those who 
attended were Sheikh Elias Redman, Vice President of the 
Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and Mrs. Bedria Mohammed, 
head of the Muslim Women's Development Association. During a 
discussion about sites of religious and cultural importance 
to Ethiopian Muslims, Sheikh Elias revealed that the 
President of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs is in 
fact a direct descendant of Sheikh Nur Hussein, a 
thirteenth-century Ethiopian Sufi saint, revered by thousands 
of Ethiopian Muslims in an annual pilgrimage to the site 
where he lived and taught Islam in the Bale Region. Upon 
learning of the AFCP grant and proposed conservation work, 
Sheikh Elias expressed his enthusiasm, saying that he had 
tried for a number of years to persuade UNESCO to consider 
the Sheikh Nur Hussein site for inclusion on its list of 
World Heritage Sites. PAS enlisted the help of the Supreme 
Council of Ethiopian Islamic Affairs in publicizing the AFCP 
project and in enlisting local community support. 
 
EMBASSY OUTREACH STRENGTHENS RELATIONSHIPS 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) Meetings with religious leaders are included in many 
front office and political/economic in-country travel.  An 
April 2005 Ambassadorial visit to the regional capital of 
Bahir Dar, a religiously diverse city, serves as a case in 
point: The Ambassador, accompanied by POL and PA staff, 
visited with senior members of the local community at a newly 
built mosque, discussing the Muslim community's development 
and education programs, reviewing how the U.S. mission had 
and can continue to work with the community, and toured the 
impressive new facility. During the tour, the Mosque's 
intense young Imam (speaking privately and in Arabic with a 
PA officer) expressed strong thanks for the visit; he 
reiterated the community's discomfort with outside ("Arab") 
influence, their wish to be clear that the building's 
construction was made possible by community and not "outside" 
funding, and his own wish to ensure we understood he stood 
firm against extremist influence, saying it was "not part of 
Ethiopian culture." He noted proudly that his education 
locally and in Sudan (and pointedly not in Saudi Arabia) as 
one that gave him tools to be an intellectual and religious - 
not a political- leader for his congregation. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Representational events have proven another avenue 
of approach to influential members of the Ethiopian Muslim 
community.  For example, Ambassador Huddleston hosted an 
Iftar dinner during Ramadan, which proved an excellent chance 
for Emboffs to engage with a broad range of Muslim religious, 
business, academic, cultural, and community figures including 
the newly installed Minister of Culture, Minister of 
Transport and Communication, leaders of the Islamic Supreme 
Council, leaders of prominent Addis Ababa mosques, and the 
leadership of the Muslim Women's Association.  In the weeks 
following the event, attendees repeatedly thanked Embassy 
contacts for the dinner, noting that it exceeded in both 
scale and attention to consideration of local Muslim customs 
anything attempted by any other foreign presence in Addis. 
 
HELPING ETHIOPIANS IMPROVE THEIR 
LIVES WHILE CHANGING PERCEPTIONS 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) CJTF-HOA, USAID, and the Embassy have all implemented 
programs in predominately Muslim areas. Many of these areas 
are both underserved by Ethiopian government institutions and 
are food-insecure, thus increasing the local population's 
vulnerability to more extreme forms of Islam. In 2005, the 
Embassy awarded two 2005 Democracy and Human Rights Fund 
grants to NGOs working in the predominately Muslim Somali 
region. These projects will focus on women's rights and the 
consequences of female genital mutilation.  CJTF-HOA is 
working to counter terrorism and extremist activities in the 
region through civil affairs missions and 
military-to-military training. For example, CJTF-HOA recently 
funded renovations to a primary school in Somali region. By 
utilizing local contractors in the renovation project, there 
was a greater sense of community involvement and partnership 
with the USG. USAID is actively engaged in a number of 
development assistance and humanitarian programs that are 
targeted directly at Muslim communities and predominately 
Muslim areas.  Recognizing that children in many Muslim, 
pastoral, and remote areas lack access to adequate education 
opportunities, USAID is initiating a program aimed at 
enhancing the quality and equity in primary education. USAID 
supported a radio education program for pastoralist children 
in the Somali language that was so successful it is now being 
used in Somalia. USAID is also supporting literacy training 
for adults in these regions through local NGOs. To improve 
the lives of pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in Afar, 
Somali and Oromiya regions, USAID is implementing a $29 
million pastoralist livelihoods initiative focused on 
livestock. Other USAID programs are designed to improving 
access to health and education, and enhancing traditional 
dispute resolution mechanisms. By directly involving and 
improving the lives of local communities, all of these 
programs have created a more positive view of the United 
States and are creating more stable and prosperous 
environments. 
HUDDLESTON