FOUR IECI EMPLOYEES KILLED IN A TARGETED ATTACK;

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003017

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/20/2015
TAGS: PINS PTER PGOV PREL KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: FOUR IECI EMPLOYEES KILLED IN A TARGETED ATTACK;
SLOW PROGRESS ON VOTER REGISTRATION PREPARATIONS

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


1. (C) Summary. The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq
(IECI) has confirmed that four employees were killed on July
17 as a result of a car-bomb attack on the East Baghdad
Governorate office. Although IECI has made little progress
in signing a logistics contract and launching a media/public
outreach campaign, IECI remains confident that registration
will start on or before August 7. IECI plans to open 15
Voter Registration Centers (VRCs) in Anbar (in Falluja and
Ramadi) and 55 VRCs in Ninewa, and has formally requested
close security support from MNF-I. The TNA will likely pass
the referendum law on July 24. End Summary.

IECI OFFICE CAR-BOMBED
--------------


2. (C) The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI)
has confirmed that a July 17 car-bomb attack on the East
Baghdad Governorate office killed two IECI staffers and two
security guards. Additionally, four IECI employees were
wounded, two critically, said IECI Director of Operations Dr.
Ali Abid Al-Elah. He told PolOff on July 18 that there had
not been any threats against IECI employees since the January
election, and he remains optimistic that IECI employees will
not be intimidated by this incident. (In the run up to the
January 2005 election, three IECI workers were killed in an
attack on the West Baghdad Governorate office on December 7,
and another three IECI staffers were dragged from their car
and killed on Haifa street on December 19. To their credit,
IECI staffers did not resign following the attacks.)

ELECTORAL PREPARATIONS
--------------


3. (C) Despite making little progress in signing a logistics
contract and launching a media/public outreach campaign, IECI
continues to maintain confidence that registration will start
on or before August 7.

- LOGISTICS. The Board of Commissioners has selected
National Air Cargo for the USD 8 million logistics contract
for the delivery of voter lists, registration forms, and
other materials. Director of Operations Dr. Ali said that
the Board is waiting for National Air Cargo to present a
final contract agreement to IECI to sign. He said overseas
printing of blank registration forms and voter lists are on
schedule and should be ready before July 21.

- PUBLIC OUTREACH. The media/public outreach section of IECI
is far from ready, however, to begin a campaign informing and
encouraging Iraqis to participate in the voter registration
update program. Recently, several senior administrators and
commissioners could not predict when the first TV ads would
run, and instead openly criticized their media section for
being unprepared. A robust media campaign was to have
started two weeks before the start of voter registration in
August. A United Nations media expert here on a one-week TDY
has been advising the Iraqi media staff to prepare the launch.

- VRCs. About 550 Voter Registration Center (VRC) locations
have been identified, and security plans are being developed
and coordinated among IECI, MOI, MOD and MNF-I. Dr. Ali said
IECI plans to open 15 VRCs in Anbar (in Falluja and Ramadi)
and 55 VRCs in Ninewa, and formally asked MNF-I for close
security support. He said IECI will not open VRCs near the
Anbar border area near Syria because of fighting there; to
mitigate the security risk, the Anbar VRCs will be located as
close as possible to existing military checkpoints.

- REGISTRATION MONITORS. IECI plans to accredit observers
and political party agents for the August registration. The
National Democratic Institute (NDI) sponsored Coalition of
Non-Partisan Election Monitors (CINEM) - a group of 100 or so
Iraqi NGOs that observed the January election - said it is
ready to monitor the next election. NDI advisor Jabouri told
PolOff that CINEM is better positioned now as a NGO
monitoring network than it was in during the January
elections because it has actively purged non-performing NGOs
and added new NGOs, including some from Anbar.

- REFERENDUM LAW. The TNA will vote on the referendum law on
July 24. TNA Legal Committee Chairman Mushen Saadoon said he
expects the law to pass without problems.

- UN STAFFING. After a four-month absence of UN electoral
assistance leadership, the new team leader David Avery is
expected to arrive in Baghdad on July 24, and the new UN IECI
Commissioner Gerardo Chevalier is expected on July 27.
Together with the UN liaison official to the IECI Jan
Malekzade, who is on the ground, they will lead the group of
international electoral experts assisting the IECI.

OUTREACH BY SUNNIS
--------------


4. (C) CEO Allami told PolOff that Sunni leader Adnan
Dulaimey approached the Anbar Governorate Office to encourage
it to open voter registration centers in Anbar. One idea
Dulaimey proposed is to allow VRCs to be located in mosques.
IECI is likely to reject this idea since the lines of
responsibility in using, controlling and protecting mosques
as VRCs would be difficult and unclear. (Comment. Not
having voted in the January elections, Dulaimey's active
interest in opening VRCs is a positive indicator that Sunnis
in Anbar are determined to participate in the electoral
process. End comment.)


5. (U) REO HILLAH, REO BASRAH, REO MOSUL, and REO
KIRKUK, minimize considered.
Satterfield