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S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 RIYADH 001270 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PASS TO NEA/ARP FOR BMCGRATH 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/09/2018 
TAGS: ASEC CIA EU EUN KDEM KISL KMDR KPAO PGOV
PHUM, PREL, PTER, SA, SP 
SUBJECT: SAUDIS FIND THEIR VOICE ON INTERFAITH DIALOGUE 
 
REF: A. RIYADH 1209 (NOTAL) 
     ¶B. RIYADH 1218 
     ¶C. RIYADH 1170 
     ¶D. RIYADH 1162 
     ¶E. RIYADH 1133 
     ¶F. RIYADH 1090 
     ¶G. RIYADH 1070 
     ¶H. RIYADH 1035 
     ¶I. NEW YORK 555 
     ¶J. MADRID 799 
 
RIYADH 00001270  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
Classified By: Charge' d'Affaires Michael Gfoeller for 
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (S/NF) SUMMARY: Public opinion on religious tolerance in 
Saudi Arabia continues to develop in the wake of King 
Abdullah bin Abdulaziz's Madrid Conference on Interfaith 
Dialogue.  Senior SAG officials railed against the USG's lack 
of public support after the Conference concluded. 
Conservative Saudis see the Conference as serving the West's 
interests, but not the Kingdom's.  Moderates remain positive, 
signaling that the King may have successfully nudged a large 
swath of public opinion his direction.  The King's image as a 
proponent of tolerance is weakened by the lack of religious 
freedom in Saudi Arabia.  Attention now turns to the proposed 
special UN session on dialogue, requested by King Abdullah 
and called for in the Madrid Conference declaration. END 
SUMMARY 
 
------------------------------------------- 
SAUDI FRUSTRATION WITH LACK OF USG RESPONSE 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (S/NF) Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Adel al-Jubeir had 
previously expressed great disappointment at the absence of 
any high-level USG endorsement or public statement on the 
initiative on the part of the White House or the Department 
(Reftel A).  Al-Jubeir had relayed his comments to the 
Charge' from Morocco where he was vacationing with the King. 
The Charge' and Ambassador Al-Jubeir were discussing the Taif 
Christians (Reftel B) when Al-Jubeir asked, "Why press us on 
this and refuse to acknowledge when we do the right thing in 
Madrid?"  Al-Jubeir emotionally noted that he found the lack 
of public USG support for the King's initiative in support of 
inter-religious tolerance difficult to comprehend, since the 
point of the dialogue was to "advance the agenda the U.S. has 
always been advocating" and "to promote your values."  He 
emphasized that the U.S. has been pressuring the Saudis for 
years to take these steps.  Now the King had appeared in 
front of the world and his countrymen to do exactly what the 
U.S. wanted him to do, but had not received any public USG 
support. 
 
¶3. (S/NF) In a separate discussion the same day between 
Riyadh Pol Counselor and a senior Saudi MFA official, this 
same criticism of lack of USG support for the Interfaith 
Dialogue was again repeated.  The MFA official added that the 
King wanted the next step in this initiative to be a special 
session on religious tolerance at the United Nations (Reftels 
I, J) and hoped the USG would actively support and 
participate with the SAG to have this session convened. 
 
------------------------ 
CONSERVATIVES NOT SWAYED 
------------------------ 
 
¶4. (S/NF) Some Saudis reject outright King Abdullah's 
interaction with any other religious leader, regardless of 
the faith.  Others accept as legitimate the King's public 
engagement with leaders of the other monotheistic religions 
(Judaism and Christianity), but oppose dialogue with Hindu or 
 
RIYADH 00001270  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
Buddhist leaders, who are considered heathens.  Many Saudis 
view the initiative as a ploy to appease the West, 
particularly the United States.  A Saudi contributor to the 
Aafaq news web site (www.aafaq.com) published an article 
stating that "King Abdullah's meeting Buddhists and Hindus 
does not please religious clerics as they consider them 
pagan."  The site Islam Today (www.islamtoday.net) 
concentrated on the invitation of Jewish rabbis, quoting a 
Saudi official as saying only rabbis from outside Israel 
would be invited.  A conservative Saudi expressed his fear 
that, were a similar conference held in the Kingdom, Israelis 
would be invited.  A Saudi female in the education field 
described the Interfaith Dialogue as "only another attempt by 
the Kingdom to please the U.S. and to cleanse itself of the 
accusations of terrorism and extremism." 
 
¶5. (S/NF) A Jeddah-based Shiite scholar, who himself praised 
the SAG's "new approach" as "a good idea," shared views on 
conservative resistance.  The scholar relayed comments by 
what he called a well-known conservative radio journalist. 
The journalist stated that the only way to deal with Muslims 
from other sects, or people from other religions, is for them 
to convert and become Muslims "like them" (i.e. Sunnis of the 
Wahabi tradition).  Per the scholar, the journalist 
criticized those participating in the Madrid conference, 
calling them "liars" and "not good Muslims."  The scholar 
said the Saudis need help to stop this type of thinking, and 
added that he does not yet see any change in Saudi society. 
 
¶6. (C) Moderate Saudis continue to support the King, but 
without the vigor displayed by conservative opponents. 
Posters identifiable as Saudis commented on an Al-Jazeera 
article praising the King.  "Dialogue is very necessary and 
it is concordant with God's words," wrote one.  Another 
posting struck at the heart of Saudi Arabia's credibility, 
asking, "Does this conference mean that if a Buddhist or 
Hindu promoted his religion in Saudi Arabia, it would be 
allowable or would he be arrested?  I think this is hypocricy 
because there is no religious freedom in Saudi Arabia." 
 
------------------------ 
MEDIA COVERAGE CONTINUES 
------------------------ 
 
¶7. (C) Media analysis of the Interfaith Dialogue held in 
Madrid on July 16 continues, even though the event occurred a 
month ago.  On August 10, the moderate Arabic-language daily 
Al-Watan published an op-ed by Umaimah Ahmad Jalahimah, a 
female advisor to Shoura Council.  In promoting the Madrid 
Conference, Ms. Jalahimah purports that the meeting was "not 
a submissive response to a call from the West," but instead 
was "inspired from our Holy Qur'an that encourages us to 
negotiate with followers of other religions."  The 
Saudi-funded weekly Al-Majalla, a London-based pan-Arab news 
magazine, covered the Madrid Conference extensively in its 
August 3rd edition.  The article quotes a range of credible 
Islamic leaders.  The King's supporters reiterated the 
official message.  "The conference puts one of the basic 
concepts in Islam, dialogue, into effect," stated Dr. Hasan 
Al-Ahdal of the Saudi-based World Muslim League. 
 
¶8. (S/NF) Not all media opinion was fit to print.  A writer 
and contributor to the newspaper Al-Bilad recounted an 
attempt to submit a story on the Madrid Conference.  In his 
article, he criticized leaders of the conservative Islamic 
community, citing the Saudi Judiciary head Salih Al-Haidan 
(strictly protect) for not attending the Interfaith Dialogue. 
 The writer argued that good Muslims support their government 
and in choosing to not attend the Conference, they were 
opposing the King's initiative and setting forth a bad 
example for Muslims in the Kingdom.  However, he stated that 
 
RIYADH 00001270  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
the paper's editor-in-chief refused without explanation to 
publish the article.  He added that many Saudis consider the 
dialogue a good idea but do not believe it is feasible to 
implement within the country. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
INTERFAITH DIALOGUE AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (S/NF) The Australian DCM in Riyadh provided Pol Counselor 
a copy of a confidential cable sent to Canberra, titled 
"Saudi Arabia: Religious Tolerance: Madrid Inter-Faith 
Dialogue."  The Australians conclude that the Madrid 
Conference demonstrated the King's opposition to extremism 
and portrayed "a more sympathetic and tolerant Saudi Arabia 
to the world and especially to its key ally, the United 
States."  The Australians conclude that the lack of religious 
freedom in the Kingdom will undermine the credibility of the 
Interfaith Dialogue. 
 
¶10. (S/NF) The Australian cable also details insight provided 
to the Australians by Bishop Paul Hinder (strictly protect), 
the Roman Catholic Bishop for the Gulf Region, who is based 
in Abu Dhabi and attended the Madrid Conference.  Bishop 
Hinder was present in November 2007 when King Abdullah raised 
the idea of an interfaith dialogue with the Pope.  According 
to this cable, the Pope responded favorably, but stressed 
that the dialogue should be matched with increased religious 
freedom in Saudi Arabia.  The King did not reply to this 
point.  Subsequent to this meeting, the Pope decided that the 
Roman Catholic Church would participate in the dialogue, but 
would not endorse it or jointly sponsor it without an 
improvement in religious freedom for Christians in Saudi 
Arabia.  Bishop Hinder delivered this message to the Saudis 
in April, 2008. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶11. (S/NF) The Saudis' rebuke for lack of USG response came 
as a surprise.  Based on the conversation with Al-Jubeir, we 
are sure that he was relaying the views of King Abdullah. 
The same message was delivered by another Saudi official on 
the same day.  From this we conclude that King Abdullah is 
disappointed with the lack of public USG support and feels 
left out on a limb, with the U.S. offering nothing in return. 
 The MFA official implied that the SAG wanted, or rather 
expected, USG support for a special session on religious 
tolerance at the UN. 
 
¶12. (S/NF) The King's initiative has exposed him to 
significant political risks.  Religious conservatives argue 
that he went too far; international observers criticize 
everything from the conference's location to its invitees. 
Al-Qaeda has renewed its death threats against him.  In Saudi 
Arabia, the Interfaith Dialogue initiative has prompted a 
minor backlash.  On June 5, SAG authorities in Eastern 
Province closed three Shia mosques at the same time the Mecca 
interfaith conference was being convened (Reftel G).  An 
influential Saudi prince opined that the attempted 
deportation of sixteen Indian Christians (Reftel B) could 
have been carried out by those angered by the King's moves 
towards greater religious tolerance.  Reinforcing this point 
is the fact that al-Qaeda called for the King's death shortly 
after the Madrid Conference concluded (Reftel C).  We 
interpret these moves to mean that the King has struck the 
right chord, successfully challenging the paradigms of 
moderates and conservatives alike. 
 
¶13. (S/NF) Despite the many criticisms, Saudis stand by the 
 
RIYADH 00001270  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
King and support his political balancing act.  King Abdullah 
faces a challenge in implementing the provisions of the 
Madrid Conference Declaration (Reftel J).  The King is 
already pushing the idea of a special UN session on dialogue, 
and the Saudis may seek further U.S. help to accomplish this. 
 Further tangible actions will show skeptical Saudis that the 
Interfaith Dialogue is more than just appeasement to the West. 
GFOELLER