ITG REQUESTS RELEASE OF MEHDI ABDHMED AL-KHALISI

S E C R E T BAGHDAD 003006

SIPDIS

NOFORN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/18/2015
TAGS: MOPS PHUM PTER PINS PINR IZ
SUBJECT: ITG REQUESTS RELEASE OF MEHDI ABDHMED AL-KHALISI


Classified By: Charge d' Affaires David M. Satterfield for Reasons 1.4
(b) and (d)


1. (S/NF) MNF-I and Embassy are receiving frequent
and fervent requests from Prime Minister Ibrahim
Ja'afari, Minister of State for National Security Abd
al-Karim al-Anzi, and National Security Advisor
Mowaffak al-Rubaie for the release of detainee Mehdi
Abdmehd al-Khalisi (MP#124),currently held by MNF-I
at Camp Cropper, near Baghdad International Airport.


2. (S/NF) Al-Anzi has told Embassy contacts that Mr.
al-Khalisi is a close personal friend of his,
Mr. Rubaie's, and the PM's. He has also said that
Mr. al-Khalisi is innocent of any offense, and that
al-Anzi would be happy to face a judge in his place.
(Mr. al-Khalisi, who was detained on July 17, 2003,
is being investigated and is likely to face eventual
criminal charges in the Central Criminal Court of
Iraq.)


3. (S/NF) Mr. al-Khalisi, an Iraqi national who lived
in Iran for twenty-three years, returned to Iraq in
2003 to open an Islamic Cultural Office, which
produced a weekly anti-Coalition newspaper. He is
believed to be the founder and leader of the Iranian-
backed Muntada al-Wilaya (MAW),which carried out the
assassination of Ba'ath Party leaders.


4. (S/NF) A source within MAW claims to have seen an
enciphered telegram from Mr. al-Khalisi to Brigadier
Ahmed Fourauzandeh, the deputy commander of Ramazan
Command in the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Group, in
which Mr. al-Khalisi claims responsibility for an
attack against six British military police officers in
am-Mijar al-Kabir in June 2003.


5. (S/NF) Another MAW source of unknown reliability
claims that that Brigadier Fourauzandeh has authorized
an expenditure of up to $500,000 for operations to
secure Mr. al-Khalisi's release, and that senior ITG
officials have received telephone calls from the
Brigadier requesting assistance.


6. (S/NF) MNF-I has already informed ITG leadership,
including the PM, that Mr. al-Khalisi poses a
significant security threat and faces serious criminal
charges; MNF-I is also preparing a declassified
summary of the information above which can be passed to
the PM, Mr. al-Anzi, and Mr. Rubaie. Whether this will
quiet calls for his release remains to be seen.
Satterfield