VZCZCXYZ0026
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRL #2766/01 2621411
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191411Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5332
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS BERLIN 002766 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SOCI KISL GM
SUBJECT: GERMAN MUSLIMS RESPOND CALMLY TO POPE'S REMARKS 
 
REF: (A) VATICAN 199 (B) BERLIN 2069 
 
¶1. (U) Summary and Comment.  Muslim organizations in Germany 
reacted calmly, but critically, to the Pope's September 12 
remarks in Regensburg.  There have been no demonstrations to 
our knowledge and no violent incidents.  Muslim organizations 
have also accepted the Pope's subsequent apology and our 
contacts see no lasting damage to Muslim-Christian relations 
in Germany or to plans for a September 27 Islam Dialog, 
hosted by the Interior Minister, on the status of Islam in 
Germany.  Mission Germany's Muslim outreach efforts have 
given us access and influence with a broad spectrum of the 
Muslim population.  We have welcomed and encouraged their 
moderate responses, both to the speech and to the ensuing 
outcry from some corners of the Muslim world.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) German Muslim organizations and prominent individuals 
responded critically, but calmly and with appeals for a 
restrained response, to the Pope's September 12 remarks in 
Regensburg linking Islam and violence.  The Muslim community 
here is not very well organized, owing to the many ethnic and 
confessional lines within it.  Following the Pope's September 
17 apology, we spoke with representatives of Ditib, Germany's 
largest Muslim organization (affiliated with the Turkish 
Ministry of Religion). They described the apology as "very 
reassuring" and cited as particularly "to the point" 
Benedict's assurances that he did not share the opinion cited 
in the quote.  Ditib issued a press statement criticizing the 
speech as showing a lack of understanding of Islam, rejecting 
the thesis that Islam grew through violence, and appealing 
for mutual respect. 
 
¶3. (U) A representative of a conservative Muslim group in 
Hamburg, considered by German authorities as at least 
potentially extremist, told ConGen Hamburg they have told 
their adherents not to react with protests, despite their 
unhappiness.  An Imam in Bavaria told us that the Pope's 
remarks were a disappointment rather than an outrage and was 
asking his community for patience and openness to dialog. 
Outside religious organizations, Lale Akguen, an SPD member 
of the Bundestag, said that criticism of the Pope's statement 
should not be used to create misunderstanding or 
polarization.  Green European Parliament member Cem Oezdemir 
said on Sept. 15 that, though the remarks were "clumsy," 
demands for an apology "were exaggerated."  A contact in 
Saxony told ConGen Leipzig that his organization found the 
Pope's statement confusing and did not plan to issue a 
statement.  Post is unaware of any demonstrations or violent 
incidents related to the Pope's remarks. 
 
¶4. (U)  Our contacts were of different views on the impact of 
the controversy on Muslim-Christian dialogue in Germany. 
Some saw no danger, while others thought it did make dialog 
at the community level more difficult.  Our contacts agreed, 
however, that there was no threat to the planned September 27 
Islam Dialogue (Ref B).  Interior Minister Schaeuble, who 
will host the Dialog, said in the September 18 "Der Spiegel" 
that the incident demonstrated how necessary such a 
conference was.  Our Ditib contacts also emphasized the 
Turkish decision to go ahead with the Pope's planned visit 
there.  (Comment: The views of the Turkish government are 
particularly influential with the roughly 2 million Muslims 
of Turkish origin in Germany. End Comment)  The Central 
Council of Muslims in Germany "greeted the Pope's 
clarification" in a statement that also called on "Muslims, 
scholars, and responsible politicians of the whole world to 
contribute to a further calming of the situation given the 
Pope's clarifying words." 
 
¶5. (U) German media covered the story intensively, and 
editorial opinion generally took the line that the Pope's 
remarks were ill-advised and had been misunderstood or 
perhaps deliberately distorted by Muslims.  The press has 
been increasingly critical of the reaction in the Muslim 
world, suggesting that reactions there tended to reinforce 
the image of Islam as a violent and aggressive threat to 
western values, notably freedom of speech.  The government 
has not issued any official statement on the controversy; the 
Chancellor's spokesman told the "Frankfurter Rundschau" that 
the affair was "an issue between religions, in which one 
shouldn't mingle." 
 
¶6. (U) Politicians have largely sought to avoid on the record 
comment, though the Pope's German background provides a 
significant reserve of support.  Chancellor Merkel sought to 
shift the focus away from the text quoted by Benedict, 
emphasizing the Pope's "decisive and uncompromising 
renunciation of all forms of violence in the name of 
religion," and reiterating her own support for a dialog 
between religions.  In his Spiegel interview, Interior 
Minister Schaeuble begged off commenting, on the basis that 
he "belonged to those bad people who, since Martin Luther, 
had fallen away from the holy Roman church" but added that 
there should be a way to cite an ancient text if one doesn't 
identify with it. 
TIMKEN JR