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OO RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHIL #1432 0941223
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 031223Z APR 08 ZDS
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
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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