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DE RUEHFR #1439/01 2110750
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 290750Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3941
INFO RUEHIC/OICCO COLLECTIVE
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 6846
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 6975
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RUEHPS/AMEMBASSY PRISTINA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 001439 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KIRF FR
SUBJECT: S/E CUMBER'S JULY 21 MEETINGS IN PARIS 
 
PARIS 00001439  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
This message is sensitive but unclassified.  Please handle 
accordingly. 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Special Envoy to the Organization of the 
Islamic Conference (OIC) Sada Cumber stressed the 
importance of Muslim integration, social cohesion and 
individual accountability during his visit to Paris 
July 21.  At the Institute of the Arab World, he 
outlined the U.S. Government's effort to establish 
digital libraries in developing Muslim countries and 
emphasized the essential role of education in helping 
Islamic youth resist extremism.  The Institute's 
leaders expressed openness to cooperation with the 
S/E?s office.  They also discussed impediments to 
progress in the Arab world, such as conflict, lack of 
education and the lingering effects of colonialism. 
At the Grand Mosque, S/E Cumber summarized U.S. 
cooperation with the OIC and asked about French 
Muslims' experiences with integration.  The Mosque's 
leaders related that the colonial past, social 
stigmatization and economic challenges have hindered 
Muslims' ability to assimilate and advance in France. 
They praised the U.S. digital library initiative and 
agreed with S/E Cumber's view that the 25 million 
Muslims who live in free societies should exert a 
positive influence for the hundreds of millions who 
don't.  S/E Cumber also met with the Aga Khan and 
discussed cooperation with the United States, 
religious defamation issues and the Aga Khan's 
programs in Europe.  End Summary. 
 
World Arab Institute 
-------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) S/E Cumber opened the meeting at the World 
Arab Institute by outlining the U.S. government's 
digital library program for the developing Muslim 
world.  The digital libraries include material on 
subjects ranging from health and the environment to 
good governance and rule of law.  The goal is to 
empower individuals to achieve positive change in 
their societies, S/E Cumber said, stressing that the 
United States and the World Arab Institute could work 
together to that end.  He outlined the challenges many 
Muslim countries face, noting that in addition to 
suffering from an overall lack of transparency and 
accountability, governments have much catching up to 
do on the economic front.  Muslim countries cover 22 
percent of the world's land surface, are home to 20 
percent of its population, and contain 70 percent of 
its natural resources (including 40 percent of energy 
reserves).  Yet Islamic nations account for only 7 
percent of global GDP, S/E Cumber said. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Education is one key to improving this 
record, he contended.  Wahabism and other extremist 
schools of Muslim thought have failed to make inroads 
in former Soviet republics because the populations are 
generally well educated, he said.  The United States 
wants to enhance the OIC's education initiatives and 
bolster progressiveness in Islamic societies. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) World Arab Institute Director General 
Mokhtar Taleb Bendiab responded that while his 
organization focuses only on Arab Muslim countries, he 
agreed with S/E Cumber's overall points.  He added 
that the culture of democracy has lagged in Arab 
countries because "Islam has not yet shed its old 
skin" and has evolved only slowly in terms of 
progressive thinking.  Foreign invasions, lack of 
education and the lingering effects of colonialism 
have hindered progress.  Advancement has occurred 
where societies embrace reason and science; 
governments that have turned away from rationality in 
favor of attaching importance to extreme 
interpretations of religion have fallen behind. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The Arab-Israeli conflict also fans 
extremism in the Arab world, Bendiab said.  Leyla 
Hazaz-Letayf, the Institute?s chief of staff, added 
that "big countries" (that is, the United States) 
should "work reasonably with Arab countries to solve 
the big problems, including between Israelis and 
 
PARIS 00001439  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Palestinians."  She criticized the United States for 
taking actions that in her view undermine rational 
discourse and encourage extremists.  "Many Arabs have 
the sense that the United States is playacting," 
Hazaz-Letayf remarked.  Bendiab tempered Hazaz- 
Leytaf's statements, emphasizing that if the United 
States takes productive steps on the Middle East, we 
will be rewarded with a "new commitment" from the 
parties involved in conflict. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) S/E Cumber rejected the idea that the United 
States does not play a constructive role in the Middle 
East.  He pledged, however, to convey Bendiab and 
Hazaz-Leytaf's remarks to Washington.  He returned to 
the theme of unity, underlining that in the United 
States, the 5 million Muslims are cohesive because 
they live in a free society and take accountability 
seriously.  The Muslim community in Houston accounts 
for some USD 3 billion of the local economy.  The 
contrast with the Middle East and other areas is 
striking.  Elsewhere in the world, "Muslims have 
failed to build enabling societies," S/E Cumber 
observed, underlining that "there is such a term as 
personal responsibility."  S/E Cumber accepted 
Bendiab's invitation to return to the Institute to 
give remarks and participate in a roundtable in the 
coming months. 
 
The Grand Mosque 
---------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The discussion at the Grand Mosque focused 
on the integration experience of France's Muslims. 
Slimane Nabour, the Mosque's director for 
communications, provided a demographic overview, 
stressing that exact numbers are hard to come by 
because questions about religion are not allowed on 
France's census.  He said there are probably about 
4.5-5 million Muslims in France.  Those of Algerian 
origin form the biggest bloc, with about 1.5-2 million 
people.  The next largest group consists of about 1 
million Muslims of Moroccan origin.  There are also 
significant numbers of Tunisians, Turks and West 
Africans.  Nabour said the 1975 law allowing families 
to join immigrant workers was a pivotal moment in that 
it prompted a social shift toward a more settled 
immigrant population.  While all citizens of France 
are supposed to be equal before the law, the reality 
has been mixed, Nabour contended.  He related that 
France's colonial past, social stigmatization of 
immigrants and economic challenges have hindered 
Muslims' ability to assimilate and advance in France. 
In addition, French Muslims are far from united, 
Nabour observed.  There are fissures along national 
origin lines as well as between competing schools of 
religious thought.  Nabour praised the U.S. digital 
library initiative and agreed with S/E Cumber's view 
that the 25 million Muslims who live in free societies 
should exert a positive influence for the hundreds of 
millions who don't.  He underlined that the program 
should focus especially on youth. 
 
Meeting with the Aga Khan 
------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) S/E Cumber also met with the Aga Khan at his 
residence in Normandy.  The Aga Khan told S/E Cumber 
that he and his organizations are open to cooperation 
with the United States.  He added that his foundation, 
the Aga Khan Development Network, is currently in 
discussions with Europenan governments in an effort to 
finalize memoranda of understanding that would 
institutionalize the Network's activities.  Turning to 
the issue of religious defamation, the Aga Khan 
contended that governments should not be answerable 
for statements or actions that denigrate faith. 
Rather, individuals -- journalists and cultural 
figures, for example -- should be held accountable. 
 
¶9.  (U) S/E Cumber has cleared this message. 
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Fran ce 
 
STAPLETON