US embassy cable - 05SINGAPORE3397

UNCLAS SINGAPORE 003397 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, ETRD, SN 
SUBJECT: SINGAPORE'S MUSLIM PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKER VISITS 
ISRAEL 
 
 
1. (SBU) Singapore's highest ranking Muslim official, Speaker 
of Parliament Abdullah Tarmugi, made an official visit to 
Israel, the Palestinian Territories, and Kuwait from November 
7 to 13.  Abdullah's delegation included a cross-section of 
ruling party MPs -- R. Ravindran (a Hindu of Indian descent), 
Dr. Warren Lee (an ethnic Chinese Christian), and Zainudin 
Nordin (a Malay/Muslim).  The editor of Singapore's 
Malay-language newspaper, Berita Harian, accompanied the 
group to provide favorable press coverage and images, 
Ravindran told poloffs.  Berita Harian covered the visit 
extensively, but downplayed the greater time spent in Israel 
relative to the quick stops in the Palestinian Territories 
and Kuwait.  The paper prominently showed Abdullah laying a 
wreath at the tomb of Yasser Arafat, but did not mention the 
delegation's briefing on Israel's defensive wall.  Because of 
the balanced itinerary, the stop in Israel does not appear to 
have generated any backlash in the region or among 
Singapore's Muslim minority population, noted an MFA official. 
 
2. (SBU) The trip was part of Singapore's efforts to "gain 
greater understanding" of the Middle East, but did not yield 
any concrete results.  The GOS has offered to provide some 
personnel training for Palestinian Authority officials, but 
details are still being worked out, noted MFA.  (On November 
29, Singapore announced it would partially fund training 
institutes in Qatar and Jordan to teach public administration 
and vocational skills.)  Singapore's Free Trade Agreement 
(FTA) with Kuwait is stalled while Kuwait seeks approval from 
the Gulf Cooperation Council to move forward with the 
bilateral deal, according to Ravindran.  In a follow-up 
visit, the Speaker of the Israeli Parliament came to 
Singapore November 24 to 27, the highest ranking Israeli 
visitor since 1993. 
FERGIN