VZCZCXRO5147
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHHI #1636/01 2551701
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121701Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6338
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 3686
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 001636 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL/AWH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV SOCI VM
 
SUBJECT: SMALL BAHA'I AND MUSLIM COMMUNITIES GROW IN HANOI 
 
 
HANOI 00001636  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Leaders of Hanoi's small Muslim and Baha'i communities say 
the religious freedom they enjoy is leading to a growth in their 
communities.  They, like other faiths in Vietnam, in turn face 
greater pressure to find adequate facilities for their worshipers, 
leading to questions over land rights and current government 
possession of former houses of worship.  The Baha'is say their 
relations with the GVN are good and getting better while the Hanoi 
Mosque is hopeful that when the Saudi Arabian Embassy opens in Hanoi 
in the fall that the local community will receive more funding to 
support schools for Muslim children. End Summary. 
 
MUSLIMS IN HANOI 
---------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The only mosque in Hanoi is quietly tucked away in the old 
quarter of the city.  The distinct architecture of the small 
building cannot be missed but blends in with the Buddhist pagoda 
located near by.  It was originally built in 1890 by merchants from 
India and former soldiers of the French Foreign Legion who came from 
Morocco.  Mr. Doan Hong Cuong, who took over as caretaker of the 
mosque after his father's death, was born in Hanoi of Indian 
ancestry. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Cuong told Poloff that members of the Muslim community hold 
group prayer sessions every Friday afternoon, led by an Imam from 
Pakistan.  Cuong said that during his 20 years as caretaker of the 
mosque, the government has never interfered in their right to 
worship and sometimes government representatives attended religious 
festivities - the community is free to celebrate all Muslim holy 
days and festivities. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Cuong said that while passages of the Koran are read in 
Arabic, most of the services are conducted in English, a neutral 
language that everyone can understand.  Currently the Hanoi Muslim 
community has 330 adherents, with about 300 believers coming from 
the diplomatic corps stationed in Hanoi, most from the Indonesian, 
Pakistani and Indian embassies.  According to Cuong, the majority of 
believers in Hanoi are women and many Vietnamese women met their 
prospective husbands by working at foreign embassies and converted 
to Islam before getting married. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Cuong said that while the Muslim faith is recognized by the 
Vietnamese government, they do not receive any funding except from 
individual believers and donations from a few embassies.  He added 
that the Muslim community in Ho Chi Minh City is much more 
established, with more believers and better financing.  Cuong said 
that in a few years time the Hanoi Mosque might need to expand 
beyond its current site and will need approval from the government. 
He is hopeful that when the Saudi Arabian Embassy opens in Hanoi in 
the fall that the local community will receive more funding to 
support schools for Muslim children. 
 
BAHA'IS IN HANOI 
---------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Mr. Nguyen Binh, one of the representatives of the Local 
Spiritual Assembly (LSA) of the Baha'is in Hanoi, told Poloff that 
the faith was recognized by the government in March 2007 but must go 
through a year-long probationary period before being given 
"official" status.  The Baha'i Faith was first established in 
Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City back in 1954 by Lady Shirin Fozdar, an 
Indian national who was born in Bombay and traveled throughout 
Southeast Asia before eventually settling in Vietnam.  According to 
Binh, before the Vietnam War there were approximately 200,000 
Baha'is throughout the country but currently the registered number 
is closer to 10,000 in 46 provinces throughout the country. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Binh said Baha'is are encouraged to start LSAs where at 
least nine adult Baha'is are living and currently there are over 30 
LSAs throughout Vietnam.  The community hopes that once it receives 
official status in 2008, it will be able to register all 30 LSAs 
with the government of Vietnam.  Baha'is from all over the country 
recently attended a three-day summer school event for adults and 
children, which included reading and deepening their knowledge of 
religious texts. 
 
BAHA'I DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS IN VIETNAM 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Ho Chi Minh City is home to the National Spiritual Assembly 
(NSA) of the Baha'is of Vietnam, which handles all national issues 
for the community such as government relations and administrative 
issues and reports directly to the Baha'i World Center located in 
Haifa, Israel.  The Vietnamese Baha'i community will meet in Da Nang 
in October to hold their annual elections for nine NSA officers. 
 
HANOI 00001636  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Every April the Baha'is hold elections throughout the country at the 
local level in order to elect LSA members. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Binh said relations between the government and the GVN are 
good and seem to be getting better.  During a recent trip by Prime 
Minister Dzung to India, a delegation of GVN officials and the prime 
minister's wife met with Baha'is in New Delhi and toured the Baha'i 
Temple.  Members of the Hanoi LSA are schedule to meet with the 
President and Prime Minister sometime after the National Day 
holiday.  LSA representatives are in close contact with officials 
from the Vietnamese Fatherland Front and National Committee on 
Religious Affairs. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Binh said Baha'is once owned several property sites but 
after the war the government took ownership.  The Baha'is apparently 
have the titles of ownership in their possession and in one building 
Baha'i inscriptions are still evident in what is now a local 
government office.  The Baha'i community plans to initiate a 
dialogue with the GVN on this issue with a view to reclaiming the 
sites in question. 
 
COMMENT: GROWING COMMUNITIES NEED SPACE 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Members of the Baha'i and Muslim communities continue to 
worship, educate their members, and observe holy days without 
government intervention.  The question of land rights and the status 
of previous places of worship now in government possession, however, 
is an issue for these as well as other religious communities.  With 
progress on religious freedom, the number of believers will likely 
continue to rise and congregations now forced to worship in small or 
interim locations will make more requests to the government to 
expand their property or challenge the government to return former 
houses of worship. 
 
MICHALAK