US embassy cable - 05BANGKOK2537

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 002537 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/08/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PREL, TH, Southern Thailand 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADORS HILL AND BOYCE MEET INDONESIAN 
NAHDLATUL ULAMA CHAIRMAN 
 
 
Classified By: CHARGE ALEX ARVIZU.  REASON: 1.4 (D) 
 
1.  (C)  Summary:  During a March 29 meeting in Bangkok, 
Indonesian Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Chairman Achmad Hasyim Muzadi 
told Ambassadors Hill and Boyce that the Royal Thai 
Government (RTG) had invited him to visit the troubled 
Muslim-majority southern border provinces of Thailand, speak 
with local officials and civilians, and provide 
recommendations on how to address the region's problems. 
Muzadi also described for Ambassador Hill the moderate nature 
of the NU organization and its basic principles.  Muzadi 
expressed concern that stereotyping reporting in the Thai 
media is giving Buddhists in Thailand the impression that all 
Muslims are Al Qaida.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (U)  Ambassadors Hill and Boyce met with Indonesian 
Nahdlatul Ulama Chairman Achmad Hasyim Muzadi in a downtown 
Bangkok hotel on March 29.  Muzadi was in Thailand at the 
RTG's invitation to review and discuss the situation in the 
south.  The schedule for his visit included a trip to 
Thailand's deep southern border provinces, which had not yet 
taken place when he met the two Ambassadors.  During his stay 
to Thailand, Muzadi had meetings with the King, Prime 
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Foreign Minister Kanthati 
Suphamongkhon, and a number of other Thai officials and 
political figures. 
 
3.  (C)  Noting that he had not previously visited Thailand's 
south, Muzadi asked Ambassador Boyce for his assessment of 
the situation there.  Ambassador Boyce said that the RTG has 
unfortunately displayed a lack of sensitivity to southern 
Thai Muslims in its policies and pronouncements.  The 
Ambassador noted that the southern Muslim majority provinces 
have not been smoothly integrated into Thailand in the 100 
odd years that they have been under Bangkok's rule.  Tensions 
were particularly acute last year, beginning with the January 
4 attack on an Army armory and especially in the wake of the 
Tak Bai and Krue Se incidents.  In the recent general 
parliamentary elections, the TRT was soundly repudiated by 
the voters in the southern provinces, probably a reflection 
of reaction against its hard-line security approach to events 
in the south.  Now Thaksin has adopted a more conciliatory 
tone and just appointed a 48 member commission, headed by 
former Prime Minister Anand, to look into the situation and 
to advise him.  He added that the group appeared to be 
credibly diverse and Anand was a prestigious, serious 
individual sincere in seeking solutions. 
 
4.  (C)  Muzadi cited the ongoing conflict between Christians 
and Muslims in Maluku in Indonesia and asked if the conflict 
in Thailand's south was sectarian.  Ambassador Boyce 
responded that the conflict is not primarily between the 
Buddhists and Muslims living in the region.  Rather it is to 
a large degree fanned by resentment among Thai Muslims over 
callous treatment by authorities, especially the police -- 
the great majority of whom are Buddhist and from elsewhere in 
Thailand.  Ambassador Boyce said that the conflict in the 
south was probably exacerbated when the Prime Minister 
dismantled the joint civilian, military, police Task Force 
43, which had served as both a conduit for complaints by the 
local population and a source of good intelligence.  Thaksin, 
as a former policeman, was probably susceptible to police 
assertions that they could handle the situation alone and 
that the task force was unnecessary. 
 
5.  (C)  Muzadi said that he was afraid that Buddhists in 
Thailand will believe that all Muslims are Al Qaida.  The 
Thai media appears to actively promote a negative image of 
Muslims, he added.  Muzadi said that stories in the press 
will invariably note if the accused is a "Muslim" rather than 
describing him as Thai. 
 
6.  (C)  Muzadi noted that he would visit the south the next 
day, to speak with the local residents and to try to 
ascertain what was happening.  He asked about the state of 
the Muslim religious schools.  Ambassador Boyce said that the 
RTG also does not understand how the Pondok (Islamic schools) 
work.  The schools in some cases are weak and need 
strengthened curriculums.  Consequently, some students have 
gone abroad, some to the Middle East, some have joined 
extremist groups.  Ambassador Boyce added that there should 
be discussion of getting more investment and upgrading the 
education in the religious schools to provide math, science 
and language training.  Muzadi agreed, pointing out that only 
a handful of religious schools in Indonesia were identified 
with troublemakers. 
 
7.  (C)  In response to Muzadi's question about links between 
southern Thai Muslims and Malaysia, Ambassador Boyce 
responded that although there are family connections, there 
is no evidence of any involvement by the Malaysian central 
government, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) or Al Qaida.  We are 
careful about our judgments, he added.  As a friend of 
Thailand, the U.S. wants to see more sensitivity applied to 
the situation of southern Thai Muslims or the conflict could 
unnecessarily worsen and prove a magnet for bad international 
elements.  Referring to the Krue se and Tak Bai incidents, 
Ambassador Boyce said that no Thai officials have been 
punished yet.  There needs to be accountability for the 
actions of those responsible for firing into the mosque in 
the first instance and the deaths in custody of the 78 
demonstrators at Tak Bai. 
 
8.  (C)  Ambassador Boyce added that a recent mistake made by 
the Prime Minister was to propose withholding government 
economic and development assistance to so-called "red zones," 
which RTG officials considered uncooperative areas.  This 
proposal was rightly slammed as potentially counterproductive 
as aid should go to areas that the RTG wants swayed back to 
its side.  In response to Muzadi's question on terrorism, the 
Ambassador replied that there is domestic terrorism being 
carried out by separatists -- car bombs, killings of monks, 
school burnings.  Muzadi asked what the motivation was for 
the separatist movement.  The Ambassador responded that there 
are historic roots but the movement is kept alive because 
many southern Thai Muslims currently feel ignored and 
disrespected and threatened by the government and mainstream 
Buddhist Thai society.  Muzadi agreed that the government to 
date appears to have failed, and commented that the Prime 
Minister needed to establish a better dialogue with the Thai 
Muslim community.  Muzadi, who had met with King Bhumipol 
Adulyadej the day before, said that his Majesty was 
interested in hearing his views on the situation.  Muzadi 
repeated that he was eager to visit the troubled region to 
form first-hand opinions.  So far everything he knew about 
the area and its problems was from the media. 
 
9.  (SBU)  In response to Ambassador Hill's question 
regarding the philosophy of the Nahdlatul Ulama, Muzadi 
stated that the organization adheres to the principles of 
Pancasila as set forth in Indonesia's constitution.  In 
brief, the Pancasila principles are: belief in one supreme 
God; humanitarianism; nationalism; consultative democracy and 
social justice.  The NU is the largest Muslim organization in 
Indonesia, with 30-40 million members, but it does not 
promote formation of an Islamic state, Muzadi said, adding 
that "religion in politics causes conflict."  Muzadi 
continued that the NU supports moderation in Islamic thought, 
sees good in all faiths, and promotes religious dialogue. 
Muzadi contrasted the NU with the rival Muhammadiyah, a 
largely urban and middle class organization which, he said, 
which promotes a more Middle Eastern (conservative) cultural 
orientation. 
 
 
 
ARVIZU