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DE RUEHIL #1432 0941223
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FM AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6309
INFO RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 8390
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 7618
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 3069
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI PRIORITY 9457
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE PRIORITY 5217
RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR PRIORITY 3934
RHMFISS/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/FBI WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
Thursday, 03 April 2008, 12:23
S E C R E T ISLAMABAD 001432
SIPDIS
C O R R E C T E D C O P Y - ADDED NOFORN CAPTION
NOFORN
SIPDIS
EO 12958 DECL: 03/25/2018
TAGS PGOV, PK, PREL
SUBJECT: POST REQUESTS FBI RECALL DEROGATORY INFORMATION ON
FAZLUR REHMAN
REF: IIR 4 201 4569 08
Classified By: CDA Peter Bodde, Reasons 1.4 (b), (d)
1. (U) This is an action request. See paragraph 2.
2. (S/NF) Post requests FBI recall information about Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) leader Fazlur Rehman noted in Reftel.
Reftel indicates that an individual ‘Fasil Ul Rehman’ believed to be associated with Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) is behind the
March 2008 bombing in Islamabad. Reftel then suggests that ‘Fasil Ul Rehman’ refers to political party leader Fazlur
Rehman of the JUI-F. Post requests that FBI recall this information from all hardcopy and database records due to
discrepancies and errors in the report.
3. (C) Prominent Pakistan politician Fazlur Rehman is not associated with the JI, but instead leads his own political
party, the JUI-F. From 2002-2007 the two parties allied with other religious parties in the coalition Muttahida
Majlis-e-Amal (MMA). However, the JUI-F and JI retained separate leadership structures as well as separate political
objectives and methods.
4. (C) Fazlur Rehman’s JUI-F is a conservative Deobandi religious party that recently has joined the new Pakistan
People’s Party (PPP) led government. Rehman, more politician than mullah, has been a prominent and legitimate figure in
Pakistani politics since the 1980s. Rehman has publicly denounced terrorist attacks, but prefers to use negotiations
rather than military force against militants. Although he is known to have contacts with Taliban and their sympathizers,
he has negotiated with religious militants on the government’s behalf, garnering him criticism from the more hard-line
religious sectors. Rehman also has been a frequent and cooperative interlocutor with Post and professes his support for
cooperation with the United States.
5. (C) The JI is a religious party that appeals to a narrow sector of the educated, conservative urban middle class. JI,
which has a vibrant student wing, began as a movement for social change based on Sharia. The JI party policy does not
support violence as a means to achieve their political agenda, however, the party quietly has supported jihad in
Afghanistan and Kashmir by providing recruits from their student corps. The party does not support violence perpetuated
within Pakistan, such as the recent attack on the restaurant in Islamabad. In addition, ‘Fasil Ul Rehman’ and ‘Fazlur
Rehman” are extremely common Pakistani names, making it impossible to accurately identify the individual in Reftel with
the prominent JUI-F politician.
BODDE