VZCZCXRO2856
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHML #1220/01 1590843
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 080843Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY MANILA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4312
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS IMMEDIATE
RHHMUNA/CDRUSPACOM HONOLULU HI IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MANILA 001220 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MTS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM ELAB PGOV RP
SUBJECT: PHILIPPINE MUSLIM RELIGIOUS LEADERS REACT TO 
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S CAIRO SPEECH 
 
REF: MANILA 186 (SECOND ULAMA CONFERENCE REACHES OUT 
     TO PRESIDENT OBAMA) 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Muslim leaders from the National Ulama 
Conference of the Philippines addressed a letter to President 
Obama June 5 expressing their sincere appreciation for the 
President's remarks last week in Cairo on U.S. relations with 
the Muslim world.  The letter (full text para. 5), delivered 
to the Ambassador by Philippine Council for Islam and 
Democracy Lead Convenor Amina Rasul, encourages the U.S. to 
continue its support for peace and development in Mindanao, 
reiterating points made in the Conference's January 29 
congratulatory letter to the President (reftel).  The letter 
further commends President Obama for defining America's new 
relationship with Muslims as one based on "mutual interest 
and mutual respect."  During her June 4 visit to Zamboanga 
City for the launch of a U.S.-sponsored peace initiative 
(septel), the Ambassador personally encouraged Mindanao's 
religious leaders to watch President Obama's highly 
anticipated speech to be delivered later that day. 
Afterwards, in a special note to the Ambassador, Rasul 
described how some Philippine ulama were nearly brought to 
tears as they listened to President Obama's speech and 
absorbed his message.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Muslim leaders from the National Ulama Conference of 
the Philippines in a June 5 letter to President Obama 
expressed their "deep appreciation" for the President's offer 
of a "hand of friendship" in his June 4 remarks in Cairo. 
They commended President Obama for seeking to build a "new 
beginning" with Muslims based on "mutual interest and mutual 
respect."  While acknowledging the "critical role" of U.S. 
relations with the Arab world, the letter asks the President 
to place "equal focus on Muslims from Southeast Asia," which, 
the letter's signatories state, "is home to some of the more 
vibrant democratic Muslim communities."  The signatories 
specifically seek continued U.S. support on peace efforts 
between the Philippine government and Muslim rebels in 
Mindanao in the southern Philippines and for development 
programs to "bring prosperity and dignity" to Mindanao's 
Muslims. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In a demonstration of enduring U.S. support for 
peace and development initiatives in Mindanao, the Ambassador 
attended the June 4 launch in Zamboanga City of the 
U.S.-supported OneWoman Initiative alongside members of the 
National Ulama Conference of the Philippines, local religious 
leaders, and officers from the Philippine Council for Islam 
and Democracy (septel).  The Council's Lead Convenor Amina 
Rasul and her mother, former Senator Santanina Rasul, who 
serves as advisor to the Council, are respectively Director 
and Founder of the Magbassa Kita Foundation, which received a 
grant in March through the OneWoman Initiative to provide 
Philippine Muslim women with skills training in conflict 
management and peace building.  In her remarks at the launch 
event, the Ambassador noted the important role that women 
peace advocates can play in mediating conflict in Mindanao. 
The Ambassador also called special attention to President 
Obama's highly anticipated speech on U.S. engagement with the 
Muslim world, and urged all present to watch it later that 
evening to understand President Obama's vision for how 
communities can bridge the differences between them. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Rasul's note to the Ambassador that accompanied the 
letter described the positive and emotional impact that 
President Obama's speech had on religious leaders who had 
convened in Zamboanga City June 4 for a regional conference. 
Some of the ulama, Rasul wrote, including a few who attended 
the OneWoman Initiative launch earlier that day, were almost 
in tears as they listened.  Other public reactions were less 
emotional, but credited President Obama for his unprecedented 
outreach.  One influential Muslim academic in Mindanao called 
the President's speech a "bold, balanced, and frank 
statement" on the direction of U.S. dialogue with the Muslim 
world. 
 
¶5. (U) Begin text of letter: 
 
June 5, 2009 
 
HIS EXCELLENCY 
PRESIDENT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA 
Washington, D.C. 
United States of America 
 
Dear Mr. President: 
 
Greetings of peace and goodwill! 
 
MANILA 00001220  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
We, the Muslim religious leaders from the southern Mindanao 
island of the Philippines, would like to express our deep 
appreciation for offering "a hand of friendship to Islam and 
addressing an array of quandaries and conflicts dividing the 
two cultures" made during a speech on American and Muslim 
relations in Cairo. 
 
We commend you for seeking "a new beginning between the 
United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon 
mutual interest and mutual respect."  And while we realize 
the critical role of your country's relations with the Arab 
world, it is our hope that you would also place equal focus 
on the Muslims from Southeast Asia.  Contrary to the 
misconceptions of some, not all Muslims are Arabs. In fact, 
of the estimated 1.2 billion Muslims in the world, 60% live 
in Asia (with almost one-third of them living in Southeast 
Asia) and only 15% are Arabs.  Parenthetically, the four 
nations with the largest Muslim populations, Indonesia (194 
million), India (150 million), Pakistan (145 million), and 
Bangladesh (130 million), are in Asia.  This also includes 
the minority Muslim populations in the Philippines, Thailand 
and Singapore.  In fact, as you courageously addressed the 
issue of democracy in the Middle East, our region is home to 
some of the more vibrant democratic Muslim communities. 
 
As you made clear that your country "is not and never will be 
at war with Islam" but that the United States "will 
relentlessly confront violent extremists who pose a grave 
threat to (y)our (nation's) security," we express the hope 
that you would pay particular attention to empowering the 
moderate sections of the Muslim population as a means to 
counter radicalization.  We, the Muslims in Southeast Asia, 
are known for being moderate. 
 
While we praise your bold efforts to address the root cause 
of the problem in the Middle East by recognizing the right of 
the Palestinians to their homeland and a state of their own, 
we wish to reiterate the declaration that we made when we 
congratulated you last January 2009 on your election as the 
first African-American President of the United States: 
 
¶1.   To engage the Muslim world, particularly the Southeast 
Asian Muslims and the ulama sector, through dialogue and 
cooperation that will benefit our communities and humanity. 
 
¶2.   To vigorously support the peace process in Mindanao to 
end the 40-year armed conflict which has resulted in 600,000 
displaced and hundreds killed since August 2008, and work to 
bring the Government of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro 
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) back to the negotiating table 
as soon as possible; 
 
¶3.  To support the legitimate and inherent right of the 
Bangsamoro people to self-determination. 
 
¶4.  To support the full implementation of the 1996 Final 
Peace Agreement between the Moro National Liberation Front 
(MNLF) and the Philippine government. 
 
¶5.  To extend massive relief and rehabilitation assistance to 
internally displaced persons in Mindanao, particularly in 
conflict-affected areas, through socio-economic development 
programs that will bring prosperity and dignity to our 
people; 
 
Finally, we commend your efforts to forge closer ties and 
understanding with Muslims from all over the world.  We join 
you in condemning acts of violence and we unite with you in 
deploring war and the evils that it produces.  We hope you 
can come and visit us in the Philippines, should you visit 
Indonesia and South East Asia. 
 
Peace, we sincerely believe, is the only war worth fighting 
for. 
 
Thank you, Mr. President, and Godspeed. 
 
Sincerely, 
 
(Signatories) 
 
And other Ulama from Sulu, Tawi Tawi, Basilan, and Zamboanga 
City, attending the Regional Consultations of the National 
Ulama Conference of the Philippines 
 
End text of letter. 
 
 
MANILA 00001220  003 OF 003 
 
 
KENNEY