US embassy cable - 03RANGOON1509

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 001509 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV, IIP 
USPACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2013 
TAGS: KISL, SCUL, KPAO, PREL, BM, Ethnics 
SUBJECT: BURMA'S MUSLIM LEADERS, FOREIGN DIPLOMATS FETED 
FOR RAMADAN 
 
REF: A. STATE 302772 
 
     B. RANGOON 1479 
     C. RANGOON 1361 
 
Classified By: COM Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.5 (B,D) 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: Two Iftaar dinners hosted recently by the 
Embassy community made great strides in improving already 
good relations with the Burmese and Diplomatic Muslim 
communities.  There were good exchanges on religious 
diversity, the role of Islam in the United States, religious 
tensions in Burma, and the importance of multilateral 
cooperation to combat terrorism.  Both events will lead to 
several follow-on steps, which will advance Embassy 
political, security, and religious freedom policy objectives. 
 End summary. 
 
Muslim Leaders Break Bread for Iftaar 
 
2. (U) A November 19 Iftaar dinner hosted by Chief of Mission 
(COM) and Embassy staff was extremely well received by nine 
Burmese Muslim leaders, and their spouses, who told us they'd 
never before been invited by the U.S. Embassy to such an 
event.  The attendees at the dinner included scholars, and 
representatives of the Muslim youth league, Burma's only 
Muslim newspaper, and one of the country's two primary Muslim 
groups -- the Islamic Religious Affairs Council.  Burmese 
Muslims are predominately Sunni, however, the leader of the 
country's Shi'ite minority also attended. 
 
3. (U) The dinner was quite collegial, with the COM 
discussing the importance of religious diversity and the 
prominence of Islam in the United States.  She also made the 
point that in discussions with the Burmese government on 
terrorism, the U.S. government was adamant that legitimate 
security concerns were not a pretext for further Burmese 
government oppression of the Muslim community. 
 
4. (C) On recent Buddhist-Muslim violence (ref c), the 
attendees said that there had been no further incidences 
since late October.  However, they admitted, there was still 
some atmosphere of fear in the Muslim quarters of Rangoon. 
One of the Iftaar guests had to leave the dinner early 
because he was due for "neighborhood watch" duty -- 
apparently arranged with the government so any sparks can be 
quickly reported to a responsible military official. 
 
5. (C) Another leader told us that the Ministry of Religious 
Affairs in mid-November reminded the Muslim community again 
to be wary and avoid "provocative actions."  Consequently, 
the leader said, the Muslim organizations were warning their 
members this Ramadan to avoid paying homage all night at the 
graves of their relatives.  Leaders also said they had not 
asked for recent GOB actions to restrict Buddhist monks and 
monasteries (ref b).  On the contrary, they feared this 
crackdown might provoke Buddhist resentment against Muslims. 
 
Our Dinner with Muslim Diplomats 
 
6. (U) On November 15, the Air Attach also hosted an Iftaar 
dinner at his home for Defense Attaches from Bangladesh, 
Pakistan, Malaysia, and Indonesia and their families.  The 
guests said they enjoyed the evening and were very pleased 
with the fellowship that came from breaking fast together. 
During the evening, those present discussed issues such as 
the root causes of international terrorism, how to deal with 
terrorists, and the need for further cross-border information 
sharing and cooperation.  In the end, all agreed that 
building relationships that increase our mutual understanding 
is a crucial first step toward working better together in the 
future to stop trans-national terrorism and other national 
security threats. 
 
Comment: The Beginning of Beautiful Friendships 
 
7. (SBU) Both Embassy-hosted Iftaars were solid stepping 
stones to even closer relations with the Burmese and 
diplomatic Muslim community.  The Defense Attach and other 
Embassy officials will continue to engage Rangoon-based 
diplomats from Muslim countries on security cooperation, and 
local religious and political issues.  In addition, we are 
already planning several follow-on steps for cultivating our 
ties to the Burmese Muslim community.  Following the COM's 
Iftaar dinner, several of the Muslim leaders invited Embassy 
hosts to their headquarters to attend future Iftaar dinners. 
Another leader invited the Chief of Mission to visit a local 
madrassa that teaches about Islam in English.  We also 
received many requests from the Burmese Muslims for more 
information on Muslims in the United States; requests that 
our Public Diplomacy section will quickly meet. 
Martinez