VZCZCXRO2157
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHFL RUEHKUK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLH RUEHPW RUEHROV
RUEHSR
DE RUEHJI #0149/01 0831159
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 231159Z MAR 08
FM AMCONSUL JEDDAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0642
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 7825

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000149 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
RIYADH PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN, DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP, 
HERRO MUSTAFA IN P, ANNELIESE REINEMEYER AND REBECCA 
GOLDENBERG IN IO/UNP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/23/2018 
TAGS: PGOV KISL OIC SA
SUBJECT: ISLAMIC SUMMIT: TOP PRIORITIES INCLUDE SUDAN-CHAD 
AGREEMENT, ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT, AND ISLAMOPHOBIA 
 
REF: JEDDAH 0010 
 
Classified By: Consul General Tatiana C. Gfoeller for Reasons 1.4(b) an 
d (d). 
 
¶1. (C) BEGIN SUMMARY: In post-Summit meetings with OIC 
Assistant Secretary General for Jerusalem Affairs Ambassador 
Samir Bakr and OIC Directors for Political Affairs Yahaya 
Lawal and Tariq Ali Bakheet, they cited the new Charter 
revision (to enter into force within six months), the Dakar 
Agreement between Sudan and Chad, and the Organization's 
first report on Islamophobia among the Organization's top 
accomplishments and policy priorities.  On the Arab Israeli 
conflict, the Dakar Declaration (the Summit Communique) 
confirmed the OIC's commitment to resolve it, and privately, 
OIC officials shared with Post their support for Senegalese 
President Abdoulaye Wade's Summit opening remarks agreeing to 
work with Israeli President Shimon Peres, per his personal 
request. 
 
¶2. (C) In a separate meeting, Saudi Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs Mecca Region Director General Ambassador Ahmed Tayeb 
again commended the U.S. appointment of an envoy to the OIC, 
cited much-needed dialogue between the West and the Muslim 
community (also a major priority mentioned in the Summit 
Communique as part of the OIC's efforts to combat 
Islamophobia), and inquired whether the U.S. would pursue OIC 
observership.  While the new OIC Charter requires consensus 
at the Ministerial level to approve states' application for 
observership -- which would be difficult for the U.S. to 
obtain -- Ambassador Tayeb's remark indicates he may be 
unaware of this new requirement.  END SUMMARY 
 
TOP OIC POLICY PRIORITIES 
 
¶3. (C) Concerning the top policy priorities for the OIC, OIC 
Assistant Secretary General for Jerusalem Affairs Ambassador 
Samir Bakr and OIC Directors for Political Affairs Yahaya 
Lawal and Tariq Ali Bakheet highlighted implementation of the 
new Charter, continued efforts to resolve the Arab Israeli 
conflict, monitoring implementation of the Dakar Agreement 
between Sudan and Chad, as well as combating OIC Secretary 
General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu's favored issued of Islamophobia. 
 
THE NEW CHARTER 
 
¶4. (C) During the Summit, the 57 member states unanimously 
adopted the new Charter, which OIC officials informed Pol 
Chief would enter into force within six months.  Significant 
changes concern OIC membership.  A country wishing to seek 
membership must possess a Muslim majority population as well 
as United Nations membership.  Additionally, any state 
wishing to become a member or observer must be approved by 
consensus at the ministerial level.  Regarding the term of 
the Secretary General, the member state agreed to extend it 
from four to five years, and in the case of current Secretary 
General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, granted him unanimous support 
for his second (and final) term. 
 
¶5. (C) In response to Pol Chief pointing out that the 
recently adopted membership rules - in particular prior UN 
membership as a requirement - would preclude Kosovo from 
joining, OIC officials replied as they have in the past that 
there was not enough momentum among OIC member states to 
support Kosovo independence. 
 
SUDAN-CHAD AGREEMENT 
 
¶6. (C) Another issue OIC officials cited as most important 
was the Dakar Agreement between Sudan and Chad.  OIC 
officials shared with Post that OIC member states negotiated 
a last-minute March 13 agreement between Sudanese President 
Omar Hassan Al Bashir and Chadian President Idriss Deby. 
According to the Agreement, Presidents Bashir and Deby have 
agreed to the following: "To End our differences, to 
normalize relations between our countries, and to take the 
necessary measures to help achieve peace and stability in our 
countries and in the region." 
 
¶7. (C) President Bashir and President Deby also reaffirmed 
their commitment to past agreements and agreed "to ban any 
activity of the armed groups and prevent the use of the 
territories of any of the two countries to destabilize the 
other."  Finally, a contact group under the joint 
chairmanship of Libya, Eritrea, and Congo, will facilitate 
monthly meetings to monitor the agreement's implementation. 
 
JEDDAH 00000149  002 OF 002 
 
 
This contact group will also include the foreign ministers 
(or any representative the member state deems appropriate) of 
Senegal and Gabon. 
 
ARAB ISRAELI CONFLICT 
 
¶8. (C) The Islamic Summit's final communique, the Dakar 
Declaration, re-confirmed the OIC's commitment to address the 
Arab Israeli conflict.  They reiterated their support for the 
relevant UN resolutions, the Arab Peace Initiative, and the 
Road Map of the Quartet.  OIC officials also cited as 
significant Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade's mention in 
his Summit Opening remarks his conversation with Israeli 
President Shimon Peres.  OIC officials said they were 
surprised by this but welcomed President Wade's gesture to 
agree to work with the Israeli government. 
 
¶9. (C) OIC officials provided Post a copy of President 
Abdoulaye Wade's remarks, highlighting the following portion 
of his speech: "...my priority will be the Palestinian issue 
with the establishment of an internationally recognized 
Palestinian State within safe borders...."  He continued: 
"This is my response to the numerous questions addressed to 
me on this issue and to President Shimon Peres who, several 
years ago...had urged me to accept mediation between Israel 
and Palestine and who, as Head of Israel oday, has 
officially asked me to intervene in support of peace between 
the two countries." 
 
ISLAOPHOBIA 
 
¶10. (C) On the Summit's most notable acomplishment's, OIC 
officials pointed to the Orgaization's first-ever report on 
Islamophobia (avalable on the OIC's web site).  The repor 
comprises an analysis of Islamophobia, initiatives the OIC 
has undertaken to address it, discussion of the legal 
dimension of the issue (from the U.S. perspective this would 
include measures restricting Freedom of Speech), and 
recommendations for further action. 
 
¶11. (C) OIC Director General for Cultural Affairs Hemayet 
Uddin (Reftel) during a roundtable with guest U.S. speaker 
Doctor Shibley Telhami praised the OIC's report on 
Islamophobia and reiterated earlier claims that negative 
portrayals of Islam are leading to a larger divide between 
the Muslim and non-Muslim world communities. 
 
¶12. (C) Mr. Uddin also stated that while the OIC supports 
Freedom of Speech it does not support its abuse.  He cited 
the upcoming 15-minute Dutch MP-produced film as one example, 
arguing that it would inevitably incite hatred toward 
Muslims.  He highlighted as an OIC goal the desire of 
legislation prohibiting religious defamation, reiterating 
legal measures called for in the Islamophobia report. 
 
SAUDI MFA MECCA REGION REACTION 
 
¶13. (C) In a March 17 meeting with Saudi Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs Mecca Region Director General Ambassador Ahmed Tayeb, 
he again commended the U.S. for appointing a U.S. Envoy to 
the OIC, stating that it sent the Muslim World a strong 
message.  He said that the U.S. needed to have a dialogue 
with the Muslim World. He added that he believed that the 
U.S. image had suffered a great deal. 
 
¶14. (C) In response to whether he thought the U.S. image in 
the Middle East had improved; he stated that he did not 
believe that that was true.  He said that from his 
conversations with other Middle Easterners and in his 
experience the U.S. image is very bad.  When asked why, he 
said that it was due to U.S. policy in the Arab Israeli 
conflict. 
 
¶15. (C) Returning to the topic of the OIC, Ambassador Tayeb 
inquired whether the U.S. would ever seek OIC observer 
status.  Pol Chief demurred but pointed out that the United 
States has a sizeable and growing Muslim population. 
(COMMENT: His asking such a question indicates that he was 
unaware of the recent change in the OIC Charter stating that 
states seeking observership require consensus approval at the 
Ministerial level from all 57 OIC Member States.  END 
COMMENT.) 
GFOELLER