US embassy cable - 04ABUDHABI2524

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 ABU DHABI 002524 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEAPD - MQUINN 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL:  07/27/2014 
TAGS: KPAO, OIIP, EAID, KDEM, OPRC PREL, PHUM, PTER, KISL, 
SUBJECT: MUSLIM WORLD OUTREACH--ABU DHABI RESPONSE 
 
 
Classified by Charge d'Affaires, Richard A. Albright, 
reason 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  There is little sign of an active 
political Islamic movement in the UAE.  The UAEG promotes 
the moderate practice of Islam and the vast majority of 
religious group in the UAE follow a moderate practice of 
Islam in line with UAEG policy.  The Mission is actively 
engaging Emirati society on several fronts: educational 
reforms, media training, empowerment of women, and 
information dissemination.  Programs are conducted under 
the auspices of the Middle East Partnership Initiative 
(MEPI) and also with local resources as part of normal post 
cultural and press work.  Special attention is being paid 
to programming in the economically disadvantaged and 
conservative Northern Emirates (origin of two of the 9/11 
hijackers) and to Emirati women students and faculty and 
women's NGOs.  We should continue a low-profile approach 
that reinforces the moderation espoused by the UAEG. 
Additional Washington support would be welcomed and put to 
good use to strengthen and build upon what we have begun. 
 
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Local Context 
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2. (C) Although the UAE is a conservative society, the 
government promotes a moderate/tolerant practice of Islam. 
There is little sign of an active political Islamic 
movement in the UAE, primarily because the UAE is a wealthy 
country with a high per capita income.  The leadership is 
responsive to its citizens' needs, encouraging them to use 
traditional mechanisms, such as the majlis, to air their 
grievances.  In addition, there are no elected 
institutions, political parties, or a political opposition. 
 
3. (C) Nearly all of the country's citizens (less than 20 
percent of the total population) are Muslims, with 
approximately 85 percent followers of Sunni Islam and the 
remaining 15 percent followers of Shi'a Islam.  The UAEG 
promotes the moderate practice of Islam in a number of 
different ways.  The Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs, 
and Awqaf operates as the central federal regulatory 
authority for Muslim imams and mosques and distributes 
weekly guidance on religious sermons to mosques and imams. 
The Government ensures that clergy do not deviate 
frequently or significantly from approved topics in 
content.  The UAEG also conducts ongoing training for 
Imams, covering a variety of religious and social topics. 
 
4. (C) After 9/11, the UAE senior leadership launched a 
comprehensive top-down security review to assess the impact 
of extremist thought and elements on UAE society.  The UAEG 
closely scrutinized the activities of the UAE's mosques, 
schools, charities and NGOs.  The UAEG also rounded up 
about 160 people suspected of ties to extremist groups for 
questioning.  As part of this review, the UAEG passed 
comprehensive anti-money laundering legislation, initiated 
tighter controls on funds transferred into and out of the 
country, assessed the country's charities and NGOs, and 
took steps to eliminate cash fundraising at mosques and 
channel all charitable giving through government-regulated 
relief organizations. 
 
5. (C) The UAE hosts a number of groups with a religious 
agenda, the vast majority of which follow a moderate 
practice of Islam in line with UAEG policy.  These NGOs, 
which also have social, educational, cultural and 
charitable components, are funded in whole or part by the 
UAEG and do not generally receive funding from foreign 
sources.  These groups rarely express anti-American 
sentiment, and when they do, it is almost always on grounds 
of U.S. foreign policy rather than religious grounds.  Most 
groups with religious components sponsor Quranic 
instruction courses and religious workshops and lectures on 
Islam and encourage their members to maintain and uphold 
moderate Islamic traditions and values. 
 
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Engagement efforts 
------------------ 
 
6. (C) The Mission is actively engaging Emirati society on 
several fronts: academic, educational reforms, media 
training, and information dissemination.  Programs are 
conducted under the auspices of the Middle East Partnership 
Initiative and also with local resources as part of normal 
post cultural and press work.  Special attention is being 
paid to programming in the economically disadvantaged and 
conservative Northern Emirates and to Emirati women 
students, faculty and women's non-governmental 
organizations. 
 
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Higher Education 
---------------- 
 
7. (C) The Public Affairs section is working closely with 
institutions of higher education to send Emiratis to the 
U.S., to assist Emiratis to continue graduate study within 
their own country, and to enrich educational exchanges. 
For example, MEPI funds will send eight women students from 
the Higher Colleges of Technology Dubai campus to the U.S. 
to learn leadership skills in a program that will take them 
to the White House, Congress, and other key governmental 
institutions.  MEPI small grants will assist Zayed 
University, the leading women's university, to conduct 
training for women teachers of English in the Ras al 
Khaimah educational zone.  The Abu Dhabi Chamber of 
Commerce will receive a grant to strengthen a "Work 
Passports Program" to help high school and college 
graduates--mostly women but also some men--learn 
communication, computing and business skills to be able to 
compete successfully in the job market.  Another grant was 
awarded to the University of Sharjah to help them bring 
five American experts to participate in a faculty 
development workshop next October.  Zayed University is 
utilizing a grant to award partial scholarships to four 
women students--two from Abu Dhabi, two from Dubai--to 
attend a new master's degree program in educational 
leadership to be offered in September 2004. 
 
8. (C) One of the biggest challenges remaining is to 
increase the number of Emirati students attending higher 
education institutions in the U.S.  The number decreased 
significantly post 9/11 from 2,500 to 800, according to the 
UAE Embassy in the U.S.  At present, there are 220 UAE 
students in the U.S. under the auspices of the scholarship 
department of the Ministry of Higher Education and 
Scientific Research, including 60 post-graduate students. 
Before 2001, there were about 400 scholarship students in 
the U.S.  Although the visa approval process for Emirati 
men now takes only a couple of days, perceptions remain 
strong that the U.S. does not want Muslim students and that 
Muslims face open discrimination in the U.S.  The Mission 
has worked very hard over the past two years to counter 
this perception by sending educational advisors and 
counselor officers to campuses to talk about study in the 
U.S. and explain the new visa regulations.  The UAEG 
remains strongly committed to sending its students to the 
U.S. and the Minister of Higher Education has informally 
decreed that all Emiratis who qualify for scholarships to 
study in the U.S. will receive them. 
 
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American Corners 
---------------- 
 
9. (C) The Minister of Higher Education attended the 
opening of an American Corner that was established at the 
UAE's primary university for Emiratis, the UAE University 
in Al Ain.  A second American Corner will be established in 
the northern Emirate of Fujairah.  American Corners are 
small libraries that contain books on English language 
teaching, how to study in the U.S., U.S. business 
information and American fiction.  They are often used a 
venues to program U.S. speakers. 
 
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English Language Micro-scholarships 
----------------------------------- 
 
10. (C) PA has received $100,000 to develop micro 
scholarships to allow 100 economically disadvantaged 
students in to study English in local institutes. PA works 
closely with the Manama based Regional English Language 
Officer to assist Emirati educational zones to strengthen 
English language teaching and is also working with the 
Ministry of Education and Youth to develop educational 
reform policies. 
 
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NGOs 
---- 
 
11. (C) PAS is strengthening its relationships with NGOs, 
especially women's NGOs. PAS has partnered with the General 
Women's Union, the coordinating body for other women's 
NGOs, to develop skill-training and leadership programs. 
PAS' Information Resource Center Director taught a course 
on developing web pages to market small businesses and PAS 
is bringing a U.S. expert to teach a workshop on marketing 
handicraft products. 
 
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Information Dissemination 
------------------------- 
 
12. (C) PAS has initiated a proactive information 
dissemination program by developing electronic outreach 
mechanisms.  The Department's new embassy web page design 
and content management system was implemented and promoted 
and PAS is spearheading a mission wide effort to post short 
stories about public programs, to tell the embassy's story 
to the UAE.  In addition, the Information Resource Center 
is distributing U.S. policy documents to Emiratis by 
listserv in order to get accurate and authoritative 
information into the hands of policy makers and opinion 
leaders. 
 
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Media Engagement--Countering Anti-American Sentiment 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
13. (C) Another critical dimension to countering anti 
Americanism is to engage the press.  According to a recent 
Zogby International report, "Impressions of America 2004," 
overall favorable ratings throughout most of the region 
toward the U.S. have declined in the past two years. Most 
Arabs have only indirect or received knowledge about 
America and the principle source of that knowledge comes 
from the Arab media.  Dubai is a regional hub for Arab 
media and the UAE has moved to support freedom of the press 
and expression by establishing Media City.  PAS is 
developing a strong program to develop media skills 
training.  Post has brought U.S. experts to the UAE to 
teach workshops and PAS IRC Director, a former Fulbrighter 
and U.S. graduate in information technology, is developing 
a strong outreach program both in the UAE and regionally. 
He is working closely with the Abu Dhabi based regional 
Information Resources Officer to develop IT programs for 
media to teach how to use the Internet for research and 
verification, to access accurate and authoritative USG 
information, to publish on the Internet and to better 
understand intellectual and property law and copyright 
issues. 
 
14. (C) So far, programs have been conducted at al-Bayan 
newspaper (attended by journalists from throughout the 
region), the Emirates News Media, al-Arabiya TV station and 
other media outlets.  These programs are increasing in 
popularity indicated by an increasing number of requests 
for more such programs.  Skill training programs, 
especially those done by local staff who speak Arabic, 
builds trust and strengthens partnerships with local 
journalists and media institutions and presents them with 
authoritative sources on U.S. society and values. 
Furthermore, they now know to turn to the IRC Director for 
accurate and authoritative information on the U.S.  The IRC 
Director and the IRO have traveled to other GCC countries 
to conduct similar programs, most notably at the offices of 
al-Jazeera's web site al-Jazeera.net. 
 
15.  Hosting over 550 media outlets and 170 free lance 
journalists, Dubai's Media City has become the most 
important center for broadcasting in the Middle East.  MBC 
(parent company of al-Arabiya) moved its headquarters and 
production center from London to Dubai in 2003.  Its 
affiliate al-Arabiya is based in Dubai.  The Media City has 
enormous plans for growth as a center for media, IT, 
education and entertainment.  Al-Arabiya's senior managers 
have repeatedly made the point that if we want to shape the 
news Arabs hear, we need to engage with the Arab media in 
Arabic.  Given the growing concentration of media outlets 
in Dubai, they have urged us to appoint an Arabic speaking 
press attach€who can engage with the media on regional 
issues in Arabic and in real time. 
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COMMENT 
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16. (C) Post is utilizing MEPI funds and limited post 
resources to engage Emirati society to strengthen moderate 
Muslim voices and counter anti-American sentiment.  We 
should continue a low-profile approach that reinforces the 
moderation espoused by the UAEG.  MEPI, which has as its 
mission to support voices of change in the Middle East, is 
one of the vehicles for accomplishing this.  Our programs 
have a strong multiplier effect, because the UAE is a 
cultural crossroads for the Middle East and South Asia, a 
regional center for business, finance, media, and higher 
education, and is strongly promoting educational and 
employment opportunities for women and is closely watched 
by other GCC countries.  Post has few financial resources 
to draw upon with the exception of MEPI funds.  More money 
for International Visitors, U.S. Speakers, media training, 
and American Corners would strengthen existing programs. 
Additional Washington support would be welcomed and put to 
good use to strengthen and build upon what we have begun. 
 
Albright