ATTORNEY GENERAL MEETS WITH IRAQI PM, LAW AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 002834

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/04/2015
TAGS: MOPS PHUM PINS IZ PTERIZ
SUBJECT: ATTORNEY GENERAL MEETS WITH IRAQI PM, LAW AND
JUSTICE OFFICIALS

Classified By: Classified by Acting Political-Military
Counselor Evan Reade for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) On Sunday, June 3, 2005, Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales and FBI Counterterrorism Assistant
Director Willie Hulon met with senior MNF-I and
Embassy officials, Department of Justice and FBI
personnel, Iraq's Prime Minister, senior Iraqi justice
leaders, and US military forces recovering at the
International Zone's Combat Support Hospital. Reports
on the Attorney General's and Mr. Hulon's meetings
with Iraqi government officials follow.

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WORKING JUSTICE LUNCH AT THE EMBASSY
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2. (C) After a brief delay at Baghdad International
Airport occasioned by a morning sandstorm, the
Attorney General and Mr. Hulon arrived in the
International Zone and attended a working lunch with
Minister of the Interior Jabr, Chief Justice Medhat,
and Judge Jamal, President of the Iraqi Special
Tribunal. The lunch was held at the Embassy Annex and
hosted by the Charge d'Affaires.


3. (C) The Attorney General opened by expressing his
gratitude to be in Iraq and his congratulations for
the work being done to build democracy in Iraq, the
success of which is, he noted, important for the
United States as well as the Iraqi people. The
Department of Justice has been working in Iraq since
2003, he said, and he is personally committed to the
dedication of DOJ resources, especially given the
difficulty of achieving democracy without rule-of-law.


4. (C) At this point, the Attorney General introduced
Maxwell Wood, the US Attorney in Macon, Georgia, who will
arrive soon in Baghdad as the new head of DOJ's
Iraq delegation, and expressed his "total confidence"
in his new delegate.


5. (C) Judge Medhat welcomed the Attorney General on
behalf of the Supreme Juridical Council, and spoke
briefly about developments in the Iraqi justice
system, which is now, he said, fully integrated, with
the courts reaching out to all government services to
involve them in the establishment of rule-of-law and
democracy in Iraq. He explained that for the first
time, the MOI and the Supreme Council are working
together, side-by-side, in all sectors.


6. (C) The Minister of the Interior noted that he
wished the Attorney General had more time to spend in
Iraq to observe the workings of the MOI and MOJ, and
said he took pride in the independence of Iraqi
justice. Three days ago, he noted, he had received an
order to arrest an Iraqi Police Commando leader - and
that while he had been hesitant to enforce the judge's
order, he had to respect the rule-of-law.


7. (C) The conversation turned to specific issues of
interest to the Attorney General, including the long-
term prospects of Coalition detainees in Iraq, the
protection of Iraqi judges, and the President's
personal interest in the investigation and prosecution
of high-profile cases, including kidnapping and
assassination, committed against Iraqi government
officials.


8. (C) On the last point, the Attorney General
stressed the importance of these investigations for
rule-of-law, noted his support for a joint task force
of US and Iraqi investigators and prosecutors, and
said that the USG "wanted to do whatever we can to
help develop professional police, prosecutor, and
judicial systems".


9. (C) Judge Medhat thanked the Attorney General for
his generous offer, and noted that while MNF-I had
given "a lot" and MOI had put forward great effort,
the Iraqi justice system is still in need of
assistance, including financial assistance for 800
Iraqi judges who require personal security details.
What the Iraqi justice system has accomplished so
far is, Judge Medhat said, greater than that Iraqi
recources alone would have enabled given the Iraqis
to achieve given their "brotherly coalition" with
MNF-I.


10. (C) A discussion of corruption was sparked by the
Attorney General's query, to the assembled, of which
posed a greater danger to Iraq - corruption, or the
insurgency. Both, replied the Minister of the
Interior, but the insurgency had to be tackled first.
Judge Medhat suggested that corruption contributed to
the insurgency, and that defeating one would help
defeat the other.


11. (C) The Minister of the Interior followed with a
summary of the current state of the insurgency, which
he traced to foreign terrorists entering Iraq from
neighboring countries, and members of the old regime.
Iraq needs the support of neighboring states,
especially Syria, to stop foreigners from coming in,
he said. As for the members of the old regime, he
believes they would be able to get rid of these
elements quickly - except for the recent rise in
suicide bombers.


12. (C) The fight in Iraq, the Minister said, is a
fight with international terrorism, and the whole
world should stand and fight -- which is what
happened in Brussels. The Minister then thanked
the USG and American people for their assistance in
Iraqi governance, democracy, and elections, and noted
that these developments in Iraq are starting to
affect neighboring countries whose governments are
"afraid of freedom".


13. (C) Attention turned to the President of the
Iraqi Special Tribunal, who provided an update on the
tribunal's status, saying that investigations were
taking place in the proper manner, and that the
tribunal remained independent of the government.
Judge Jamal concluded by requesting USG assistance
in procuring apartments in the International Zone
for IST judges. "My judges are courageous", he said,
"but safety is also good."

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THE IRAQI PRIME MINISTER AND ATTORNEY GENERAL MEET
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14. (C) PM Ja'afari opened the meeting by welcoming
AG Gonzalez, saying that he had enjoyed fruitful
meetings with the President, SecState, and National
Security Adviser several days earlier in Washington.
The AG commended Ja'afari's progress in promoting
democracy and the rule of law in Iraq, noting that the
birth of a democracy can be difficult, but that it is
impossible without the rule of law. The AG expressed
his personal commitment to Ja'afai and the Iraqi
government to provide whatever help DOJ could,
including advice, training, and resources.


15. (C) Ja'afari, again demonstrating his interest in
U.S. history, quizzed the AG on the two former U.S.
presidents who had died on July 4. He discussed the
fact that the U.S. constitution had evolved since its
inception, and noting the number of amendments
throughout its history. Ja'afari noted that he wanted
a constitution for all Iraqis, not just for the
majority or just for the minority. He emphasized that
the diversity of Iraq was even greater than that of
the United States, but suggested that Iraq would start
-- with the equal rights of women and minorities, and
the acceptability of intermarriage -- where the U.S.
constitution and laws ended up. He spoke briefly of
the need to include in the Iraqi constitution a
recognition that the majority of Iraqis are Muslim.


16. (C) Ja'afari took the opportunity to articulate
Iraq's need for a constitutional awareness campaign,
noting that he hoped to get the Iraqi citizens to a
certain level of understanding about the process and
content of the constitution. He spoke of collecting
points of view from different sectors and people, also
noting that he wanted to achieve the draft
constitution by August 15.

17. (C) AG Gonzalez introduced to PM Ja'afari the new
Justice Attache, Mr. Wood, who assumes his post at the
Embassy in a week. The AG also raised the USG's
concern about the long-term issue of detainees in Iraq
and how the Iraqis might eventually assume detention
responsibilities for individuals it is unable to
charge under its criminal laws. PM Ja'afari seemed to
focus on those held by MNF-I against whom criminal
charges can be brought; when the AG noted that the
concern was with those Iraq could not charge
criminally, the PM mentioned that Iraq could get
"guarantors" for the detainees, prohibit them from
leaving the country, and so on. (Comment: The Prime
Minister does not seem to have given much thought to
this problem, including its scope or possible
solutions. End comment.)


18. (C) Ja'afari concluded the meeting with a
discussion of terrorism in Iraq; both he and the AG
agreed that Iraq was on the front lines of the war on
terrorism. The PM noted that the Iraqi people have
two pictures of the American presence in Iraq. On the
one hand, they see the positive diplomatic presence,
which is evidenced by the fact that people wave at the
helicopters they see flying overhead. On the other
hand, they see innocent people killed for taking a
misstep or making a sudden move in a car. Ja'afari
cautioned that MNF-I needed to be sensitive in dealing
with Iraqi civilians and look into events in which
civilians were injured or killed by MNF-I forces. In
conclusion, Ja'afari mentioned that he had visited
wounded U.S. soldiers while he was in Washington and
that America should be proud that it has children who
came to Iraq to fight against oppression.


19. (C) This cable was not cleared by the Attorney
General prior to his departure.
Satterfield