VZCZCXRO3844
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #1051 1030814
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 130814Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4326
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHJA/ISLAMIC CONFERENCE COLLECTIVE
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0655
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 1465

UNCLAS JAKARTA 001051 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM KISL PGOV ID
SUBJECT: CDA'S INTRODUCTORY CALLS ON WORLD'S LARGEST MUSLIM 
ORGANIZATIONS 
 
REF: JAKARTA 993 
 
This cable is sensitive but unclassified; please protect 
accordingly. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) As part of post's ongoing engagement with 
Indonesia's Muslim community, CDA made courtesy calls on the 
chairmen of the world's two largest mass Muslim 
organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)'s Hasyim Muzadi and 
Muhammadiyah's Din Syamsuddin.  By way of introducing their 
organizations, the chairmen both spoke about their 
organizations' long histories in Indonesia, not only as 
religious and cultural institutions but also as sources of 
political change.  Syamsuddin particularly noted the critical 
role that Muslim organizations played in smoothing the 
transition to democracy here. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Both emphasized the activities that they have 
undertaken to foster interfaith dialogue and understanding, 
Muzadi as NU's leader and a member of the International 
Conference of Islamic Scholars, and Syamsuddin in his dual 
role as Muhammadiyah chair and the head of the Indonesian 
Ulama Council (MUI).  (Note.  In a separate meeting with the 
CDA, Jakarta's Cardinal Julius Darmaatmadja praised Muzadi 
and, to a lesser extent, Syamsuddin for these efforts.  End 
note.)  Muzadi and Syamsuddin also pointed to the recent 
Sunni-Shi'a conference (ref A), co-sponsored by  NU and 
Muhammadiyah, as evidence of their activism in promoting 
Middle East peace. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Muzadi and Syamsuddin commented on their 
long-standing and largely positive relationships with the 
U.S. and other Western countries, with Syamsuddin noting that 
Muhammadiyah has been working with the U.S. for thirty-five 
years.   Both men spoke with pride about various roundtable 
dialogues they had organized to bring U.S. officials together 
with representatives from the full range of Islamist 
organizations, notably after 9/11 and in the run-up to the 
war in Iraq.  However, they were critical of U.S. foreign 
policy toward the Muslim world, and expressed disappointment 
that the U.S. "ignored" their advice not to invade Iraq. 
Muzadi was especially bitter and outspoken, contending that 
the bloodshed in Iraq has somehow proved his advice was 
correct.   CDA pushed back that no one wanted peace and 
reconciliation in Iraq more than the U.S.  Nevertheless, they 
emphasized that despite their disagreement with our policies, 
they were committed to maintain their organizations' 
cooperative relationships with us. 
HEFFERN