Cablegate: Nigerian Muslim Reaction to Israel-Lebanon Conflict

VZCZCXRO7779
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHUJA #2065 2230846
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 110846Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABUJA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6746
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS PRIORITY 4769
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS ABUJA 002065

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL ASEC LE NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIAN MUSLIM REACTION TO ISRAEL-LEBANON CONFLICT

1. Approximately 25,000 Lebanese citizens reside in Nigeria,
according to recent estimates. Since July 31, members of the
Nigerian Lebanese community have staged peaceful
demonstrations in major Nigerian cities, including Abuja,
Lagos, Kano, and Gusau. Participants gathered to highlight
the plight of civilians in Lebanon and condemn Israel for its
campaign against Hezbollah. The demonstrators carried
placards urging the U.N., U.S., and international community
to call for a cease-fire. A Lebanese interlocutor confirmed
that the protests in Gusau and elsewhere were jointly
organized by the Lebanese and Nigerian Muslim communities.

2. Nigerian Muslims seem to view the U.S. as the only power
capable of halting the attacks on Lebanon, though unwilling
to do so. On July 24, the Abuja-based Assembly of Muslims in
Nigeria (ALIM) issued a press release criticizing the U.S.
for its "double standard policy of hatred exercised against
Muslims" and appealed to "Islamic scholars and Muslims to
sympathize with the people of Lebanon and the Islamic
Resistance Movement (Hezbollah)". Friday sermons delivered
July 28 and August 4 in mosques throughout Nigeria condemned
Israel for its offensive against Hezbollah and accused the
U.S. of supporting Israeli "aggression." The influential
"Daily Trust" newspaper *widely regarded as the voice of
Northern Nigeria * published an editorial August 9 alleging
that "It is the United States which has allowed the crisis to
escalate".

3. COMMENT: The crisis in the Middle East is a flash-point
issue in Nigeria as elsewhere in the Muslim world. Since the
United States is widely viewed as Israel's closest ally and
weapons purveyor, any Israeli military offensive tacitly
implicates the United States. Increased Israeli incursions
into South Lebanon and Gaza, specifically absent any direct
calls from the U.S. for a cessation of hostilities, could
alienate, even radicalize the Nigerian Muslim community.
Despite the peaceful tenor of the protests over the past two
weeks, the potential remains for the conflict to attract the
sympathies of the wider Muslim community in Nigeria. END
COMMENT.
CAMPBELL

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