VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB
DE RUEHGB #2783 2881406
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151406Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5106
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS BAGHDAD 002783
SIPDIS
PLEASE PASS TO NSC
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL OPDC IZ
SUBJECT: LETTER FROM AHMAD CHALABI TO PRESIDENT OBAMA
1. On October 13, 2009 Embassy Baghdad received the
following letter from Ahmad Chalabi to President Obama. The
original letter will be transmitted to NEA/I/POL via pouch
mail.
Begin text of message:
The Honorable President Barack Obama,
President of the United States of America
The White House
Washington, DC
Dear President Obama,
Please accept my sincere congratulations on the award of
Nobel Peace Prize of 2009.
The few months of your administration have produced a
sea-change in the perception of the United States of America
in the World and specifically among Muslims. Your historic
speech in Cairo has become a beacon of hope for the coming
era.
We already feel the imprint of your policies in Iraq and we
look forward to a strategic relationship with the United
States of America based on respect, culture and economic
cooperation. We welcome your determination to discard making
military and intelligence matters the overriding agenda of
the United States in Iraq.
The responsibility of combating extremists who claim to be
acting in the name of Islam is primarily the responsibility
of Muslims. We must devise strategies to fight those
nefarious elements and to offer a reality of hope and
progress in synthesizing the world for Muslims in the 21st
century. In this respect, we hope that you can see your way
clearly to supporting an alliance in the historical center of
the Muslim world. We are working to develop a Concordat
among the modern states of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran which
together comprise the territory known in Islamic geography as
"Al Iqleem Al Rabi'i". The famous Muslim historiographer Al
Masoodi described this territory as "the heart of the world".
This Concordat, built on peace, prosperity and tolerance,
will have a determining effect on the entire Muslim world and
will be the rock on which extremism in the Muslim world will
shatter.
Finally, I would like to mention that the people in Iraq are
proud of your initiatives and wish you well in winning of the
Nobel Peace Prize of 2009.
Sincerely,
/signed/
Ahmad Chalabi
End text of message.
HILL