IRMO - SECOND MEF MEETING WITH AL ANBAR GOVERNOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003919

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/22/2015
TAGS: PINS PGOV KDEM ECON PREL IZ
SUBJECT: IRMO - SECOND MEF MEETING WITH AL ANBAR GOVERNOR

Classified By: MG ROBERT HEINE, IRMO DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, FOR REASON
S 1.4 (B) AND (C).


1. (C) Summary. On September 18, Iraq Reconstruction
Management
Office (IRMO) Senior Consultants and the Second Marine
Expeditionary Force (2MEF) Deputy Commander BG Williams met
with
Al Anbar Governor Mamoon. They discussed several issues
including 1) the kidnapping and recent release of the
governor's
son; 2) the governor's concerns about the Independent
Electoral
Commission of Iraq's failure to respond to the governor's
requests for improved security at polling places and for the
residents of Anbar to be able to register to vote "to the
last
day"; 3) the delivery of critical health supplies to clinics;
4)
coordination of three upcoming meetings (an "impromptu"
meeting
of the Provincial Reconstruction and Development Committee
(PRDC),a meeting of the Transitional National Assembly (TNA)
with the governor and members of the Provincial Council (PC),
and a USAID-supported conference of PC members September
26-28);
and 5) U.S. logistical support for the governor. End summary.


2. (C) In a cordial meeting in his Ramadi office, Governor M.
Mamoon met with Brigadier General Williams, Deputy Commanding
General of 2MEF; Marc Chrtien, Advisor for the Ministry of
Industry and Minerals, IRMO; Frank Mahoney, MD, Advisor for
the
Ministry of Health, IRMO; Colonel Jimmie Jaye Wells, IRMO
Operations; Colonel Miles Burdine, 2MEF Sixth Civil Affairs
Group; William Lovely, IRMO Provincial Program Manager; and
other USG interlocutors.

GOVERNOR REGAINS KIDNAPPED SON
--------------


3. (C) USG officials expressed relief at the return of the
governor's son who had been held eight days and was released
on
September 14. The governor said his son had not been harmed,
but his vision was a bit off from being blindfolded the
entire
duration. He said his son's "spirit is broken." He has no
proof
of the identity of the perpetrators, yet he suspects the
kidnapping was a politically-motivated criminal act initiated
by
"insiders" of the provincial government, not insurgents. He
said he needs USG help to find and legally sanction the
kidnappers.

ANBAR ELECTION SUPPORT CONCERNS OF THE GOVERNOR
-------------- --


4. (C) Discussions then turned to the Independent Electoral
Commission of Iraq (IECI). Governor Mamoon was critical of
the
IECI. Mamoon said the IECI is not responding to his requests
and will not experience a "successful process" without its
doing
so. He said the procedures the IECI has proposed are not
good;
for example, Anbar leaders had recommended polling sites
including mosques, to which the IECI does not agree. The
IECI's
registration procedures are also wrong, Mamoon said. He
wants
registration open to the "last day". The IECI's abuse, he
said,
will "keep us separate." To make his point, he emphasized
several times that "this is our right!" and "tell General
Casey
this". Regarding site security, he wants the polling sites
to
be secured by Coalition and Iraqi security forces, not other
potential agents. The governor said he will "run again" in
the
December elections. (Comment. Governor Mamoon opposed IECI
efforts to use tribesmen to secure voter registration sites
and
polling sites. The IECI did agree to extend voter
registration
an extra week in Anbar after the Embassy brought Sunni Arabs
to
the IECI headquarters in Baghdad. The Embassy also arranged
for
Mamoon to meet the IECI in Ramadi two weeks ago. Each side
has
explained its point of view, but Mamoon and the IECI disagree
on
issues like security and voter registration. We are
arranging a
September 26 trip by the IECI to Fallujah as we try to build
trust between Anbar and the IECI. End comment.)

HEALTH SUPPLIES ON THE WAY
--------------


5. (C) Dr. Mahoney explained that critical health equipment
has
arrived in Abu Ghraib and will soon be delivered to clinics
in
the province owing to the support of the 2MEF. He described
the
composition of the kits for different clinics and more robust
shipments that will follow. Mahoney was asked to examine the
eye of the Chairman of the PC, Sheikh Gaider, who came to the
meeting late. Mahoney observed that the Sheikh has a genetic
glaucoma. Mahoney will see what the US can do for him.

UPCOMING MEETINGS
--------------


6. (C) BG Williams and the group then discussed the
coordination of three upcoming meetings. To "offset
potential
internal political opponents and for security purposes", the
governor called a "surprise" PRDC meeting Monday, September

19.
He then planned to hold a meeting with visiting TNA members
and
the same PC members. He agreed to get the PC members
together
for a USAID-supported conference on constitutional matters
and
capacity building September 26-28.

SUPPORT FOR THE GOVERNOR
--------------


7. (C) Since Governor Mamoon is perceived as the leader with
maximum gravitas in the province and he has no likely
successor
at the moment, and owing to the recent kidnapping of the
governor's son, Mission Iraq is making significant effort to
provide him USG support. Mamoon was having trouble with
Thuraya
phones the USG had provided him; these were reset. An
armored
car has been made available for his security, and others are
on
the way for his PSD.
Khalilzad