US embassy cable - 04DJIBOUTI578

C O N F I D E N T I A L DJIBOUTI 000578 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF AND AF/E 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/15/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PHUM, PINR, SOCI, SA, DJ 
SUBJECT: MINISTER OF AWQAF AND ISLAMIC AFFAIRS: RELIGIOUS 
EXTREMISM NOT IN DJIBOUTI'S NATURE 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR MARGUERITA D. RAGSDALE. 
REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
1. (C)  Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Mogueh Samatar 
Dirir described to Ambassador, during her courtesy call April 
7, the role of his ministry as one of having authority over 
all Islamic issues affecting Djibouti.  These issues include 
the manner in which mosques and religious schools should 
operate. Its central difficulty, as a relatively new ministry 
(2 years of age), he said, is the lack of necessary resources 
to implement all the programs in its pipeline. 
 
2. (C) Ambassador inquired about the role of the High Islamic 
Council that the Ministerial Council recently established, 
under the chairmanship of the Minister of Islamic Affairs. 
The Minister affirmed the plan for a High Islamic Council and 
said its mandate is to give advice to the Government on all 
issues and concerns of a religious nature. It will also take 
charge of and coordinate the activities of all Islamic 
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) present in Djibouti, 
although he did not clarify how this would be done or how the 
additional portfolio overlaps with current ministerial 
operations. The Minister added, however, that the council 
would need adequate material assistance to fully function in 
the manner the Ministerial Council envisioned. 
 
3. (C) Dirir expressed regret that funding his ministry had 
previously received from Saudi Arabia had now diminished.  He 
cited as a cause the general political and economic 
constraints on Saudi assistance worldwide that have followed 
the events of September 11, 2001 in the United States.  He 
cautioned, however, that such support in the past was never 
used for extremist purposes.  Extremism in Djibouti is not 
likely, he continued, because of the calm and non-extremist 
nature of Djiboutians and because their traditions dictate 
that they think and behave otherwise.  Dirir added that 
Djiboutians have never been easily influenced by foreign 
ideology.  He said the majority of the country's Muslims 
followed the moderate Shafi'i school of religious thought, 
although the Kadiri branch of Sufism is also present. 
 
4. (C) Asked about government oversight of mosque operations, 
Dirir said that in Djibouti, each imam of a mosque is 
currently free to preach on any topic he wishes.  However, 
the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs is planning to 
begin monitoring and controlling these sermons.  He said this 
is important to ensure that imams do not tout ideas that 
might be interpreted, either by others or by Djiboutians, as 
extremist. 
 
5. (C) On women's issues, the  Minister said his ministry 
does not yet have, but is planning to have, a family 
education department that would be dedicated exclusively to 
issues of women in Islam.  For now, the Awqaf ministry fully 
supports the agenda of the Ministry of Women's Affairs, 
co-located in the same building with the Ministry of Awqaf 
and Islamic Affairs. 
 
6. (C) BIO-DATA:  Somali by origin, Dirir is believed to have 
been born in Ethiopia. He speaks Arabic and Somali, but only 
limited French.  He was appointed Djibouti's first "Qadi" 
(religious judge) after its independence from France in 1977 
and served in that position until his appointment as Minister 
in 2002. 
RAGSDALE