SHIA PROTEST AL JAZEERA REPORT

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 005010 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/15/2015 TAGS: KDEM PGOV PINR PINS IZ SUBJECT: SHIA PROTEST AL JAZEERA REPORT Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ROBERT S. FORD FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (U) On December 14 at 2100, Al Jazeera TV broadcast the political talkshow Al Et'jah Al Muakis (The Opposite Direction),hosted by Faisal Al Kasim. Joining him on the show was a former Shia Ba'athist Fadhil Al Rubae and Sistani loyalist Fuad Al Samawi. During the program, Faisal and Fadhil made disparaging remarks about the Shia clerical establishment (the Marjaiya),saying that the Marjaiya should stay in their mosques. They also condemned the whole Marjaiya system as backward. This sparked protests in such places in Sadr City, Karbala, Hillah, Najaf, and Al Kut. Protests are scheduled to take place on December 15 in London as well. ¶2. (U) The protesters numbered about 5,000 in some places, and have been supporters of Sistani, SCIRI, and the Sadr Bureau. In Najaf the policemen have even protested. They have been chanting slogans that are anti-Al Jazeera, anti- Qatar, anti-Ba'athist, and anti-Allawi. ¶3. (C) Allawi campaign headquarters coordinator Azzam Alwash told Poloff December 14 that their office in Nasiriyah was attacked and burned by demonstrators who were in the streets after the al-Jazeera broadcast. Local Allawi campaign workers also said the Iraqi Communist Party office was about to be attacked. (REO Basrah sources later confirmed that the Allawi and ICP offices were indeed burned. They said voting was orderly on December 15 morning, however.) ¶4. (C) COMMENT: These events have come at a most opportune time: one day before the December 15 elections. Shia Islamist candidates can present themselves as injured parties to garner the sympathy vote. These protests remind of the street power the Shia Islamists can generate quickly. END COMMENT. KHALILZAD