VZCZCXRO5182
RR RUEHBC RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHKUK RUEHLH RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHJI #0123 0901411
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 311411Z MAR 09
FM AMCONSUL JEDDAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1265
INFO RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE
RUCNDTA/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0070

C O N F I D E N T I A L JEDDAH 000123 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/ARP, IO, IO/UNP; INFO IIP/SDIS, DRL, IRF, GTIP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/31/2014 
TAGS: PREL KISL OPDC OIC SA
SUBJECT: OIC OFFICIALS, ADDRESSING REGIONAL ISSUES, CALL 
FOR STRENGTHENED US TIES AND HIGH LEVEL ATTENTION 
 
REF: A. JEDDAH 0044 
     ¶B. JEDDAH 0051 
     ¶C. JEDDAH 0121 
 
Classified By: CG Martin R. Quinn for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY:  At an Organization of the Islamic 
Conference(OIC) roundtable with visiting American professor 
William Quandt, OIC Secretariat officials reiterated previous 
calls for strengthened ties with the US government (refs 
A,B), including appointment of a new US special envoy. OIC 
officials said they want to see the United States become more 
involved in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and 
proposed the Syrian track as the best avenue for success. 
Roundtable discussion framed context for request from OIC SYG 
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu to meet POTUS in Turkey.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (C) QUANDT VISIT: On March 2 OIC officials hosted a 
roundtable for visiting professor (US Speaker) William 
Quandt, well-known author and Middle East commentator, 
University of Virginia professor, and former NSC staffer. 
Quandt spoke to several audiences in Jeddah, principally 
about the issues of US and Iran, Iraq and the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 
¶3. (C) ISRAEL/PALESTINE: Ambassador Mahdi Fathalla (former 
Egyptian diplomat), OIC Director for Political Affairs, 
called for additional US effort to produce a breakthrough on 
the Israel-Palestine front.  He described the Saudi-initiated 
Arab peace proposal as a good starting point: "This is a 
missed opportunity by the Israelis and the Americans since 
they are playing it together. We know this and everybody 
knows this. We are ready and the Arab initiative is on the 
table, despite some Arab countries wanting to withdraw the 
offer. There is an opportunity for reconciliation." 
¶4. (C) SYRIA: Ufuk Gokcen (Turkish diplomat), advisor to the 
Secretary General, opined that Israeli-Arab peace-making 
efforts should focus on Syria: "It is very nave to ignore 
the Syrian track. Syrian society is ready for peace. Solving 
this issue will involve compromise for the Israelis, which 
will make it easier for them to compromise on the Palestinian 
issue." 
¶5. (C) IRAN AND IRAQ: Other OIC views were the familiar 
refrains. According to Fathalla, the Washington approach on 
the Iran issue is "a pretext -- as in Iraq."  Without 
elaboration, he indicated that claims regarding Iran's 
nuclear intentions are being used, by the US, "for political 
purposes." Noting the recent trip of the OIC Secretary 
General to Iraq, the first for SYG Ihsanoglu and the fourth 
high level OIC delegation to visit Iraq, Fathalla said the 
purpose was to learn from the Iraqis what the OIC can do to 
assist.  He claimed the OIC has played a positive role in 
defusing tensions between Shi'a and Sunni, citing OIC's 
success in bringing 30 scholars from both branches of Islam 
to Mecca for intra-faith dialogue. 
¶6. (C) SPECIAL ENVOY POSITION: OIC officials continue to 
stress interest in renewing the position of the US special 
envoy to the OIC.  Fathalla said the OIC wishes to further 
official contact with the USG through any and all available 
channels, while urging the US "to take advantage of the OIC 
itself" as a channel to the Muslim world:  "The right channel 
is the OIC; we can represent the many causes of the Islamic 
World.  We can be the proper channel for the new vision of 
the new administration."  Another OIC official expressed the 
hope that "President Obama will fulfill his campaign promise 
of holding a US-Islamic summit." OIC officials urged stronger 
ties with the United States through unofficial contacts with 
media, NGOs, and think tanks as a means of influencing 
American public opinion and correcting chronic misperceptions 
of Muslims and Islam. 
¶7. (C) POST COMMENT:  OIC officials, several of whom are 
retired member state diplomats, tend to inflate the 
importance of the OIC role in regional matters, particularly 
with regard to its impact in reducing sectarian strife in 
Iraq.  While the organization may not have the commanding 
influence in the Islamic world that its officials purport, 
the OIC is a broad-based, generally moderate political body 
with links to 57 Muslim member countries.  Its leadership has 
aggressively been courting strengthened ties with the USG 
since the November election, including the appointment of a 
new special envoy.  Clearly, the OIC is seeking high level US 
interaction in order to validate and legitimize its role as a 
non-religious Muslim organization positioned to engage the 
USG -- the latest being the March 24 request from OIC SYG 
Ihsanoglu, passed to IO/UNP, to meet POTUS in Istanbul or 
Ankara.  END COMMENT. 
QUINN