VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBUL #4211 3641458
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 301458Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4377
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS KABUL 004211 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KDEM AF
SUBJECT: SHIA ASHURA CELEBRATION PASSES PEACEFULLY IN 
AFGHANISTAN 
 
¶1.  (U) On December 27, Afghan Shia throughout the country 
publicly and peacefully observed the holiday Ashura.   Black, 
red, and green banners draped monuments, street lights, and 
doors in Kabul more than a week in advance of the holiday to 
commemorate the martyrdom of Hussein ibn Ali, the prophet 
Mohammad's grandson.  On Ashura itself, thousands of Afghan 
Shia processed through the streets of Kabul, Herat, and other 
major cities to publicly mourn Hussein's death.  Many 
participating in the processionals engaged in public 
self-flagellation, while other Shia commemorated the day in 
quiet, indoor ceremonies. 
 
¶2.  (U) Although Ashura is a primarily Shia holiday, a number 
of Afghan Sunni politicians paid their respects on December 
¶27.  President Karzai addressed the congregation at powerful 
Shia leader Ayatollah Mohseni's mosque in Kabul in a 
televised speech.  According to Waliullah Rahmani, Director 
of the Kabul Center for Strategic Studies, the speech did not 
focus on the religious (and thus sectarian) aspects of 
Ashura, but Karzai used the opportunity instead to call on 
the Taliban to put down their weapons and join with the 
Afghan people.  Other Sunni political leaders, including 
current cabinet members and MPs, participated in ceremonies 
at both Mohseni's and MP Mohaqqeq's (Kabul, Hazara) Kabul 
mosques. 
 
¶3. (SBU) MP Ahmad Ali Jebraili (Herat, Hazara), an 
Iranian-trained cleric, told us December 29 that the 
commemoration of Ashura has become a nationally respected 
event.  He praised Afghanistan's "new political system" which 
grants minorities the "freedom to practice religious rituals 
in public celebrations."  While it is clear that religious 
tolerance in Afghanistan does not stretch far beyond Islam, 
the peaceful public celebrations of Ashura signify a growing 
tolerance among Sunnis for the Shia minority.  Rahmani also 
noted to us that the black Ashura drapery in Kabul extended 
far beyond the predominantly Shia areas, including into areas 
associated with Hezb-e Islami.  The allegedly Iranian-funded 
Ashura decorations and celebrations throughout the country 
are part of an effort to show that while Shias are a 
minority, they are a powerful one, according to Afghanistan 
Watch Director (and Hazara Shia) Abdul Jalil Benish. 
 
¶4. (U) For the second year in a row, the Afghan Ministry of 
Public Health opened blood banks in major cities on Ashura to 
encourage Shia to donate blood rather than to injure 
themselves in the street.  The head of international 
relations at the Ministry, told us that they opened donation 
centers in Kabul, Herat, Mazar-e Sharif, and Kandahar. 
Second Vice President Khalili, an Hazara Shia, and Shia 
cabinet members were among the more than 500 Shias to donate 
blood in Kabul. 
 
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