US embassy cable - 05AMMAN9319

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 009319 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/01/2015 
TAGS: KISL, PREL, PTER, SA, QA, JO 
SUBJECT: JORDAN SEEKS US SUPPORT IN ADVANCE OF OIC SUMMIT 
 
REF: AMMAN 4991 
 
Classified By: Ambassador David Hale, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1.  (C)  King Abdullah II and Jordanian Foreign Minister 
Abdulillah Al Khatib separately briefed Ambassador December 1 
on  GOJ efforts to prepare for the December 7-8 summit in 
Mecca of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). 
Khatib explained that the GOJ is working for a final 
communiqu from the meeting that incorporates the conclusions 
of the July 2005 Islamic conference in Amman (reftel) in 
three points: 
 
--a robust condemnation of takfir as practiced by 
revolutionary salafists; 
 
--an agreement that each of the principal schools of Islamic 
jurisprudence will limit to the senior-most levels of its 
institutions the authority to issue fatwas, and that only 
fatwas vetted at those levels will be deemed legitimate, and; 
 
--a strong endorsement of mutual recognition among the 
principal schools of jurisprudence. 
 
2.  (C) The Jordanians identified Egyptians, Palestinians, 
Turks and Emiratis as supporters of this agenda.  They 
expressed worry, however, about the Saudis (especially on the 
takfir clause) and the Qataris. 
 
3.  (C) Recognizing that U.S. leverage on internal Islamic 
religious issues like these is limited and would need to be 
exercised with discretion, the King and FM nevertheless asked 
that the USG seek opportunities to persuade the Saudis and 
Qataris to support, or at least not actively oppose, 
inclusion of these three elements in the communique, and that 
efforts with governments would be especially helpful. 
 
4.  (C) Comment:  King Abdullah has devoted considerable 
effort throughout the Islamic world over the past year to a 
campaign to promote the &Amman Message8 of November, 2004, 
on moderate Islam.  But those efforts have not gone 
unchallenged by others, perhaps for less-than-substantive 
reasons in some cases.  The King,s coordinator for this 
agenda, his cousin Prince Ghazi, told us this week during 
APHSCT Townsend,s visit that the &Amman8 label of the 
Amman Message &is meeting resistance8 in some OIC quarters 
more than the &Message8 itself.  The King, however, noted 
that it is no surprise that the two Wahabi nations are trying 
to water down OIC endorsement of the key points of the Amman 
Message. 
HALE