Viewing cable 09PODGORICA171, RADICAL ISLAM IN MONTENEGRO If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the

structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs Reference ID 09PODGORICA171 Created 2009-07-10 11:57 Released 2011-08-30 01:44 Classification UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Origin Embassy Podgorica

VZCZCXRO4200 PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSL RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHPOD #0171/01 1911157 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 101157Z JUL 09 FM AMEMBASSY PODGORICA INFO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1404 RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE RUEHBW/AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PRIORITY 0565 RUEHTI/AMEMBASSY TIRANA PRIORITY 0209 RUEHVJ/AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO PRIORITY 0154 RUEHPS/AMEMBASSY PRISTINA PRIORITY 0143 RUEHPOD/AMEMBASSY PODGORICA 1493 Currently released so far... 251287 / 251,287 Articles Brazil Sri Lanka United Kingdom Sweden Global United States Latin America Egypt Jordan Yemen Thailand Browse latest releases 2011/08 Browse by creation date 66 87 95 03 72 88 96 04 73 89 97 05 75 90 98 06 78 91 99 07 79 92 00 08 85 93 01 09 86 94 02 10 UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 PODGORICA 000171 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KISL MW SUBJECT: RADICAL ISLAM IN MONTENEGRO PODGORICA 00000171 001.2 OF 004

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1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Over the last decade, fundamentalist Islam, known here as Wahhabism, has established a small foothold among Montenegro's 110,000 Muslims. There are probably a few hundred adherents in country, concentrated in majority-Muslim towns of Plav and Rozaje, close to Kosovo and Albania. The so-called Wahhabis, who have links with Bosnia and Serbia (and similar groups in some Western European cities), initially challenged mainstream Muslim authorities in several towns and villages. After a perceived crackdown on extremists in Serbia's Sandzak in 2007, however, they appear to have adopted a lower profile. While continued economic deprivation in northern Montenegro, where most Muslims live, could radicalize some young Muslims in the longer term, Montenegro's centuries-old tradition of moderate Islam and healthy inter-ethnic relations provide a bulwark against the spread of Wahhabism. In fact, Embassy personnel have repeatedly experienced abundant outpourings of warmth toward the United States among the local Muslim (Slav and Albanian) population. END SUMMARY.

Muslims in Montenegro ---------------------

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2. (U) Montenegro's 110,000 Muslims (almost 18 percent of the total population, according to the 2003 census) are divided into three groups: Bosniaks (8 percent of Montenegro's population), "Muslims" (5 percent), and Albanians (5 percent; note that some Albanian-Montenegrins are Catholics). Bosniaks and "Muslims" are Slavs whose ancestors converted to Islam under Ottoman Turkish rule. Yugoslavia used the term "Muslim" after 1971 to describe the ethnicity of its Slavic Muslim population. Following Bosnia's lead in the 1990s, some Montenegrin Muslims have advocated that Slavic Muslims call themselves "Bosniaks." Both "Bosniak" and "Muslim" ethnicities are recognized in Montenegro's Constitution.

3. (U) Almost three-quarters of Montenegro's Bosniaks/Muslims live in the country's northern municipalities, where they constitute majorities in Rozaje and Plav (the latter also has a large Albanian Muslim population) and significant minorities in