VZCZCXRO6921
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHAD #0371/01 0371152
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 061152Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3395
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUEHCP/AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN 0025

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 000371 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/PD AND NEA/ARPI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/05/2011 
TAGS: KISL KDEM PREL KPAO ETRD AE
SUBJECT: RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS TACKLE CARTOON CONTROVERSY 
 
REF: ABU DHABI 305 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR MICHELE J. SISON, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The UAE Government ushered in the Islamic 
New Year February 1 with an evening of preaching that 
emphasized religious tolerance and moderation.  However, the 
UAE's unified Friday sermon that preachers delivered two days 
later castigated the Danish media for publishing a cartoon of 
the Prophet Mohammed and said that allowing such cartoons in 
the press "should be stopped by every means possible." 
Preachers reminded worshippers that the Prophet Mohammed was 
criticized during his time, but that he responded to personal 
attacks by treating his detractors with forgiveness and 
kindness.  After the Friday sermon, Abu Dhabi witnessed a 
rare protest march that included calls for a European Union 
apology and a suspension of trade with the EU.  End Summary. 
 
Religious Leaders Emphasize Tolerance, Moderation 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2. (U) UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed's Saudi-born religious 
adviser, Ali al-Hashemi al-Sayed, hosted an Islamic New Year 
celebration on February 1 during which he and other religious 
figures spoke about the need for religious tolerance and 
moderation in the world.  He said the Danish newspaper 
Jyllands-Posten's decision to publish a cartoon of the 
Prophet Mohammed was "regrettable."  However, he said it was 
important that Muslims not allow themselves to be provoked by 
such acts particularly when other more influential Western 
leaders were speaking respectfully about Islam.  He added 
that the events of 9/11 should have taught everyone about the 
importance of unity and understanding among religions. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The religious adviser's guests included Education 
Minister Sheikh Nahyan, the Under Secretary for Islamic 
Affairs at the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs, 
numerous religious scholars from the UAE and Yemen, and the 
head of the Egyptian Coptic Church in the UAE.  The latter is 
a frequent guest at interfaith events and sprinkles his 
sermons with passages from the Qur'an and the Bible.  Sheikh 
Ali al-Jaffri, a well-known Yemeni preacher who spoke to 
student and civic groups in California, Florida, and the UK 
after 9/11, gave a stirring lecture condemning extremism and 
urging moderation.  Al-Jaffri told Polchief after the program 
that Muslim preachers have an obligation to reach out to 
different groups -) Muslim and non-Muslim alike -- 
especially when Islam is misunderstood by many. 
 
¶4. (U) Also present at the celebration was a son of Sheikh 
Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, the Grand Imam of Egypt's al-Azhar 
Mosque.  Tantawi's son works for the UAE Ministry of 
Interior.  Diplomatic guests included Ambassadors from the 
UK, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Palestine, Bosnia, Senegal, 
Mauritania, and Egypt.  Sitting next to Polchief was one of 
the UAE's most famous political asylum recipients, former 
Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed al-Sahhaf, aka Baghdad 
Bob, sporting a thick black mustache.  He held a string of 
amber prayer beads as he listened to the sermon.  At the 
conclusion of the sermon and prayers, as guests rose to move 
from the reception tent to the buffet table, al-Sahhaf placed 
his hand on Polchief's back and said, "Go first, please, 
please."  The event took place under a tent erected in a 
flower orchard belonging to Abu Dhabi emirate's ruling 
al-Nahyan family, 15 minutes' drive from al-Ain. 
 
Friday Sermons Attack Danish Cartoon 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (U) The cartoon controversy was also the subject of the 
weekly Friday sermon drafted and distributed by the UAE's 
Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs, and Endowments.  The 
Friday sermon text, which preachers are expected to use as 
guidance, noted that "the media lately have exposed some 
Danish newspapers offending our Messenger and mocked his 
character in caricatures to offend our Master.  These satanic 
acts are an offense to Islam and all Muslims.  Carrying on 
with such acts is an attack against religions.  This act has 
offended and angered more than one billion Muslims around the 
globe.  Such a behavior had come from those who pretend to be 
scientists and people who respect the freedom of others." 
The sermon went on to say that free expression did not give 
someone the right to publish cartoons offensive to Islam. 
Preachers in some mosques made the point that Prophet 
Mohammed responded to personal attacks by forgiving people 
and treating them kindly. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The unified Friday sermon text also warned that, 
"Continuing to place these illustrations in newspapers is a 
clear attack which should be stopped by every means 
 
ABU DHABI 00000371  002 OF 002 
 
 
possible."  The text also said that the "shameful acts" have 
angered 1.3 billion Muslims in the world.  Muslims condemn 
the acts and call on scholars and thinkers of the world to 
stand against such shameful acts, the sermon said. 
 
Rare Protest Targets EU 
----------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) After the Friday, February 3 prayers, approximately 
500 people demonstrated peacefully along Abu Dhabi's stylish 
seafront Corniche, urging the European Union to apologize to 
Muslims for the offensive cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. 
The protesters also called on Muslim governments to suspend 
all their trade with the EU.  Demonstrations in Abu Dhabi, 
Dubai, Sharjah, and Ras al-Khaimah emirates received coverage 
in both the Arabic and English press. 
 
¶8. (C) Comment: The Danish cartoon controversy presented the 
UAE's religious scholars with a dilemma.  On the one hand, 
they wanted to give worshippers guidance on how they should 
react to the cartoon issue.  On the other hand, they wanted 
also to convey the UAE's traditional sense of tolerance and 
moderation.  Judging from the peaceful protest in Abu Dhabi 
and the continuing boycott of Danish products in local 
grocery stores, the approach appears to have had its desired 
effect. 
SISON