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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ULAANBAATAR 000489 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS USTR, USTDA, OPIC, AND EXIMBANK 
STATE FOR EAP/CM 
USAID FOR ANE FOR D. WINSTON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EINV PREL ETRD PGOV ECON PHUM PINR MG
SUBJECT: Mongolia's Muslim Minority Reaches Out 
 
REFTEL (A) ULAANBAATAR 454, (B) 06 ULAANBAATAR 237 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Despite dismal economic conditions, leaders of 
Mongolia's Muslim/Kazakh minority in the western province of Bayan 
Ulgii dismiss fears of Islamic radicalism taking root within their 
ranks, and say they feel no undue pressure from far-off Ulaanbaatar, 
even though they are under constant scrutiny from the country's 
security and intelligence agencies.  Mongolia's Muslims have 
traditionally maintained strong ties to moderate Islamic communities 
in Turkey, but are now broadening outreach efforts to other Islamic 
countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. 
They are also looking for U.S. Embassy and NGO support in 
alleviating the economic hardship that their congregants face. END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) As part of the Embassy's continuing outreach to Mongolia's 
Muslim population, Econoff and Econ Assistant recently toured Bayan 
Ulgii province and met with four leading figures: Mongolia's leading 
Muslim cleric, Mufti Shirkhan; the treasurer of the Islamic 
congregation, Sovietkhan; the director of Ulgii's Islamic school, 
Salekh; and the person in charge of public relations and faith 
promotion, Idress.  Bayan Ulgii, the westernmost province bordering 
Russia, China and just 25 miles from Kazakhstan, is home to between 
100,000 and  150,000 ethnic Khazakh Sunni Muslims (out of a national 
population of roughly 2.6 million).  Most reside in the regional 
capital of Ulgii. 
 
¶3. (U) Mongolia's Islamic leaders said they are pleased with their 
interactions with the U.S. Embassy in Ulaanbaatar and were happy to 
meet with the Charge during his recent travels through the area (ref 
A; ref B provides an overview of Islam in Mongolia), and again when 
they traveled to the capital for their national Muslim conference. 
 
NO THREAT OF RADICALIZATION SEEN 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) It is an open secret that Mongolia's intelligence and 
security agencies vigilantly monitor the activities of Bayan Ulgii's 
Muslim/Kazakh minority, citing it as a potential source of homegrown 
terrorist or separatist activity.  Nevertheless, Mufti Shirkhan 
reported that they have good relations with Ulaanbaatar and do not 
feel repressed by the central government.  (Note: Similarly, 
discrimination from non-Muslim Mongolians does not appear to be an 
issue for Mongolia's ethnic Kazakhs.  On August 9, Sairaan Kader, a 
Democratic Party MP and founder of the Mongolian Muslim Society, 
told us that Mongolian Muslims do not suffer discrimination, 
although they are concerned about aggressive proselytizing by 
foreign Christian missionaries.  End Note.)  Mufti Shirkhan said 
fears of Islamic radicalism sprouting from western Mongolia are 
unfounded.  Given the small-town nature of the Islamic communities 
sprinkled throughout the province, any wayward activity would be 
easily spotted and quickly controlled, he said.  He added that 
Mongolia hosts no foreign clerics who might sow radical ideas. 
During the 1990s, Ulgii's Muslims brought in a series of moderate 
clerics from Turkey to help revive the faith after decades of 
communist suppression, cementing a special bond between the two 
country's Islamic communities that continues today. 
 
AFTER-SCHOOL RELIGIOUS CLASSES 
------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) According to Salekh, the director of Ulgii's Islamic 
school, around 100 students attend after-school religion classes at 
the mosque's facility.  Few students go beyond this basic religious 
training, he said, but each year one or two go overseas to further 
 
ULAANBAATA 00000489  002 OF 002 
 
 
their religious studies, usually to Turkey.  A very small number, he 
said, have gone on to study in other countries such as Pakistan and 
Saudi Arabia. 
 
ECONOMIC WOES CONTINUE 
--------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) Economic conditions in Bayan Ulgii remain dismal, with 
unemployment running well over 30 percent and per capita GDP 
registering just over $500, half the national average.  The dire 
economic situation has not only left some ethnic Kazakhs feeling 
ignored by the central government (septel), it challenges the 
leadership of the province's Islamic community.  Mufti Shirkhan said 
congregants often approach the mosque for financial assistance, but 
he conceded that the community lacks sufficient resources to meet 
their obligations under Zakat, or alms-giving.  Instead, the mosque 
has begun to examine ways to help congregants help themselves. 
Mukti Shirkhan announced plans to establish a mosque-linked 
English-language school, and directly solicited Econoff for 
financial assistance in getting the idea off the ground.  Equipping 
Ulgii's Muslims with better English skills would give them more 
opportunities to find well-paying jobs, he said. (Note: Embassy 
Ulaanbaatar organized a three-week English summer camp for ethnic 
Kazakh high-school students in June and July, under the Bureau of 
Educational and Cultural Affairs' English Access Microscholarship 
program.  We will repeat the camp next year.  End Note.) 
 
ASSISTANCE SOUGHT 
----------------- 
 
¶7. (U) The Mufti also sought Econoff's assistance in establishing 
links with local branches of NGOs such as World Vision and USAID's 
Ger Initiative, in the hope of applying their economic-assistance 
programs to the Muslim community.  (Note: Econoff encouraged the 
Muslim leaders to approach the organizations on their own, but later 
shared Mufti's ideas with the local Ger Initiative office, which 
said it would follow up). 
 
¶8. (U) Community leaders reported that they are planning to build a 
new mosque in Ulgii's city center, close to the river, with 
financial assistance from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab 
Emirates.  Although the community is proud of its increasing 
connections with international Islam - moves aimed at helping the 
province overcome its relative isolation -- the leaders told us that 
they have had little interaction with high-level visitors to 
Mongolia from Islamic countries, with the recent exception of the 
Emir of Kuwait (reftel A).  (NOTE:  Community leaders also sought 
points of contact for American Muslim organizations.) 
MINTON