US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO1549

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001549 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS 
NSC FOR DORMANDY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/15/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PREL, MV, Maldives 
SUBJECT: MALDIVIAN GOVERNMENT SEEKS US HELP IN STAVING OFF 
EU RESOLUTION 
 
REF: A. COLOMBO 1516 
     B. COLOMBO 1337 
 
Classified By: AMB. JEFFREY J. LUNSTEAD.  REASON:  1.4 (B,D). 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
-------- 
 
1. (C) On September 16 Mahamoud Shougee, Minister of 
Education for the Government of the Republic of Maldives 
(GORM), and Abdul Hameed Zakariyya, GORM Foreign Secretary, 
called on the Ambassador to request U.S. advice and 
assistance in staving off a resolution before the EU 
Parliament condemning the recent State of Emergency and 
subsequent detentions.  Ambassador suggested that the 
Maldivians contact EU Chiefs of Mission in Colombo directly, 
but noted that ensuring due process for the detainees seemed 
the best way to deflate the proposed resolution.  Shougee 
indicated that the State of Emergency (which allows detainees 
to be held without charge and denies them the right to 
counsel) would not be lifted immediately, but perhaps by the 
end of the month.  He suggested that the GORM is developing 
evidence linking detainee Gasim Ibrahim, a member of the 
Special Majlis and prominent local businessman, to "Sheikh" 
Fareed, an anti-American Muslim extremist.  He promised to 
share this information when the investigation was completed. 
The Maldivians invited DCM to visit the detainees during his 
upcoming visit (September 19-20).  We find it hard to believe 
that pro-reform detainees--some of whom, including Gasim, are 
well and favorably known to us--would be involved with 
Fareed, whose goal of a rigid Islamic state is antithetical 
to the democratic reforms the detained MPs had been pressing 
for.  End summary. 
 
-------------- 
EU RESOLUTION 
------------- 
 
2.  (C) On September 16 Mahamoud Shougee, Minister of 
Education for the Government of the Republic of Maldives 
(GORM), and Abdul Hameed Zakariyya, GORM Foreign Secretary, 
called on the Ambassador to request U.S. advice and 
assistance in forestalling a proposed resolution before the 
EU Parliament condemning the State of Emergency and 
subsequent detentions.  (Note:  Acording to the Members of 
the European Parliament website, the proposed resolution was 
passed later the same day.  The text of a letter from the 
Maldivian Foreign Minister to the Secretary on this subject, 
received via diplomatic note on September 17, is being 
conveyed septel.  End note.)  Shougee said that President 
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom had specifically asked him to seek 
"guidance and support" from the USG, which he regards as a 
friendly country, to stop the resolution, which the GORM 
fears would have grave consequences on the tourism industry. 
(Note:  70 percent of tourist arrivals to Maldives are from 
EU member countries.  End note.) 
 
3.  (C)  Noting that the U.S. has limited influence in the EU 
Parliament, the Ambassador suggested the delegation visit EU 
Chiefs of Mission in Colombo.  Shougee said he would be doing 
just that later in the day.  The Ambassador observed that 
ensuring due process for the detainees is likely the most 
effective way to defuse such criticism from the EU. 
Protracted detentions of people without charge and without 
access to legal counsel feeds concern for the detainees' 
welfare and doubts about the GORM's objectives, he cautioned. 
 In his visits to Maldives, the Ambassador said he had 
witnessed a deep-seated desire for political growth, 
especially among the youth.  It is important that this desire 
for change is channeled positively; the GORM decision to 
establish the Special Majlis had seemed an attempt to do just 
that.  The U.S. had been encouraged by signs that President 
Gayoom recognized the need for reform, the Ambassador said. 
If, however, the pressure for democratic change is stifled, 
it can end up being channeled in negative directions, he 
said. 
 
------------------------------- 
A FOREIGN/FUNDAMENTALIST HAND? 
------------------------------- 
 
4.  (C) Shougee agreed that things had been moving in the 
right direction toward greater democratic change.  President 
Gayoom is serious about reform, he asserted; he has even 
written a draft Constitution that allows for a multi-party 
system, the direct election of the President, and other 
reforms.  Shougee said that he himself had been involved in 
behind-the-scenes efforts to get the reform process back on 
track after the controversy surrounding the election of the 
Speaker of the Special Majlis (Ref B).  Things were going the 
right way, he reported, when the demonstrations of August 
12-13 changed everything.  While some observers contend that 
the demonstrations were spontaneous and others that they were 
planned, the fact remains that some of the protesters called 
for Gayoom's resignation, which, he stated, "could be read as 
an attempt to overthrow the government."  The crowd 
degenerated into a mob, he continued, throwing stones and 
attempting to charge the police station.  In the melee one 
policeman was stabbed.  The authorities were forced to take 
stern measures in order to restore security, Shougee 
summarized, including the imposition of a State of Emergency 
and the detention of numerous suspects, some of whom 
participated in the demonstrations and some of whom did not. 
The State of Emergency will continue until the GORM completes 
its investigations to determine whether there was an 
organized attempt to bring down Gayoom's government and 
whether there was "a foreign hand" in the chaos, he said. 
These investigations might be completed and the State of 
Emergency lifted by the end of the month, he suggested. 
 
5.  (C)  Also of concern to the GORM, said Shougee, is the 
apparent involvement of "Sheikh" Fareed, a radical 
anti-American/anti-Western extremist who faces previous 
charges for plotting to disrupt the tourism industry (by 
throwing acid on tourists) and for calling for a "jihad" to 
overthrow the government and set up an Islamic state.  In 
particular, Fareed had been heard protesting the recent 
establishment of an American Corner in Maldives, Shougee 
reported.  Fareed's followers had initiated the 
demonstrations and seemed to be inciting the crowd to 
violence, he charged.   A ruling on Fareed's pending cases is 
expected soon; the GORM will not end the State of Emergency 
until the ruling is announced.  In the meantime, the GORM is 
investigating whether any of the detainees has any link to 
Fareed, he concluded, suggesting that Gasim Ibrahim, a 
Special Majlis MP who has been detained since the 
demonstrations, may have been funding Fareed.  "That will 
come out at the end of the day," he hinted, adding that the 
GORM will share any such evidence with the Embassy. 
 
6.  (C)  While acknowledging the GORM's need to restore order 
after the demonstrations turned violent, the prolonged 
detention of pro-reform MPs without charge and without access 
to legal counsel is a "disturbing feature," the Ambassador 
replied.  Some of the current detainees, like Gasim Ibrahim, 
are well known to the Embassy, he said, and while they are 
strong advocates for democratic change, they do not appear to 
have any interest in establishing an Islamic state.  Gasim 
Ibrahim, a prominent businessman with lucrative investments 
in tourist resorts, seems a particularly unlikely supporter 
of a fundamentalist determined to destroy the tourist 
industry, the Ambassador suggested.  The best way to handle 
the zeal for change is to move ahead toward legitimate 
reform, he reiterated.  Calls for "jihad" find fertile ground 
when there seems to no other outlet for change, he observed. 
By providing such an outlet, the GORM could be a wonderful 
example of a moderate Muslim state that develops into a 
democracy.  The USG, as a friend of Maldives, wants to 
support that, he concluded. 
 
----------------------- 
DCM TO VISIT DETAINEES 
----------------------- 
 
7.  (C) Noting that he plans to be in Maldives September 
19-20 to open the U.S. Trade Fair, the DCM suggested that he 
might use the opportunity to visit some of the detainees, 
especially the daughter of Mohammad Latheef, a pro-reform 
activist in self-imposed "exile" in Sri Lanka.  Shougee 
welcomed the suggestion, assuring the DCM he would be allowed 
access to any and all prisoners requested.  The Ambassador 
said that he hoped to visit Maldives soon, perhaps in the 
first week of October, and to meet with President Gayoom at 
that time, as well as with the detainees, if they were still 
detained at that time.  Shougee supported that idea. 
--------------- 
EU PERSPECTIVE 
--------------- 
8.  (C) In a September 16 meeting with the Ambassador, Dutch 
Ambassador and current chair of the EU presidency Susanna 
Blankhart spoke about the EU Heads of Mission September 6 
trip to Maldives (Ref A).  Having only met with Maldivian 
Foreign Minister Fathulla Jameel and been denied a meeting 
with President Gayoom, Blankhart described the visit at being 
"met by a wall" by the GORM.  That reaction led to the harsh 
press statement released by the EU following the trip. 
Blankhart explained that she tried to suggest to the FM that 
the Maldivian government needed to be cautious about public 
opinion regarding the August 12-13 protest and subsequent 
events.  Instead, the GORM issued a dismissive response to 
the EU's press statement, which Blankhart attributed as one 
of the causes of the strong September 16 resolution by the 
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), calling for Gayoom 
to repeal the state of emergency and release the 
pro-democracy reformers.   Blankhart said that the EU's 
agenda will remain the release of the prisoners, the repeal 
of the state of emergency, and the reconvening of the Special 
Majlis. 
 
9.  (C)  Regarding the issue of Islamic fundamentalism, 
Blankhart and the Ambassador agreed that it was a legitimate 
concern, but the Ambassador said he did not understand how 
that concern by the GORM could lead to the jailing of MPs. 
Blankhart agreed with Ambassador that such repressive 
behavior by the government could actually leave people with 
no option other than the fundamentalist approach. 
 
-------- 
COMMENT 
-------- 
 
10.  (C) Managing change is difficult, especially if one has 
enjoyed, as President Gayoom has, unchallenged authority for 
25 years.  While Gayoom may recognize the need for pursue 
reform, he wants to do so at his own pace.  The pent-up 
pressure for more immediate change, however, appears too 
great for him to harness.  If Gayoom expects this desire for 
change to dissipate in the government clampdown--or our 
interest in the detainees' welfare to fade because of 
unsubstantiated allegations of an implausible link to Muslim 
extremism--he is miscalculating.   DCM will pursue visits 
with pro-reform detainees during his upcoming stay in 
Maldives. 
LUNSTEAD