AN INSIDER'S LOOK AT THE PM'S OFFICE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 005045 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/19/2015 TAGS: PGOV PINR PINS IZ SUBJECT: AN INSIDER'S LOOK AT THE PM'S OFFICE REF: BAGHDAD 03752 Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Robert S. Ford for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary. An American contractor working at the PM's office indicates that Adnan Ali al-Khadimi is the only policy and decision-maker on Jaafari's team. Considered the second and third most important people on the team are senior PM advisors Said Hakki and Emad Dhia. But even though they have defined areas of influence, they too answer to Adnan Ali. Many staffers resent Adnan Ali's consolidation of power, especially PM spokesperson Laith Kubba, who recently decided to leave Jaafari's Dawa party and establish his own. With the likelihood of the Shia Islamist Coalition (555) choosing Jaafari as the next Prime Minister, it is important to know the man behind the man - Adnan Ali. End Summary. ¶2. (C) An American contractor has been the PAS advisor to the Prime Minister's Office and privy to the inner workings of the Jaafari team for the past year. On December 17, this source debriefed Poloff on her impressions of how PM Jaafari and his inner circle operate. According to this source, Adnan Ali al- Khadimi unofficially usurped the role of Chief of Staff in September (reftel) has succeeded in maintaining his status. According to X, Adnan Ali is a selfless, dedicated, tireless worker, who never leaves the office before 2AM. Adnan Ali is the only policy and decision-maker on the Jaafari team. With the exception of Dawa party paperwork, all paper crosses his desk before it reaches Jaafari. Problematic to this arrangement is the creation of a bottleneck in decision-making and implementation. ¶3. (C) In contrast to Adnan Ali, Abdul Aziz Temimi comes to work late and leaves early. Temimi has not battled Adnan Ali to regain his position as Chief Advisor to the PM. He is rarely consulted on matters of state, takes his leisurely time at work, is pleasant to everyone and claims he works on Dawa business. Most staffers have no idea what he does. ¶4. (C) President of the Iraqi Red Crescent Dr. Said Hakki is considered one of Jaafari's senior advisors. This source describes Hakki as a very hard worker and focuses his efforts on humanitarian assistance and dealing with the western media. He directly reports to Adnan Ali. ¶5. (C) Another hard worker is Advisor Emad Dhia. He too directly reports to Adnan Ali. Dhia's main charge is interacting with the British and US EmbOffs on Iraq Reconstruction. This source considers both Dhia and Hakki dedicated workers devoted to helping Iraq. ¶6. (C) A tier lower than Dhia and Hakki is Advisor Haider al-Abadi does whatever Adnan Ali assigns him to do. Recently he was assigned as the main interlocutor on reconstruction and humanitarian assistance to Tall'Afar, and yet Adnan Ali co-chaired the meetings. ¶7. (C) According to this source, public statements are crafted by Adnan Ali and given to the PM spokesperson Laith Kubba to issue. She added that Kubba resents Adnan Ali's rise to power. She reported that she had issues with Kubba when he did not heed her repeated suggestion to use "the Prime Minister thinks" instead of "I think" in his broadcasts. She added that Laith is a bit self-absorbed, spending all his time on his own campaign and public press releases, ignoring PM business. She considered PM Jaafari a gentleman for refusing Kubba's resignation, when Laith decided to leave the DAWA party and start his own. ¶8. (C) Having limited contact with Cabinet General Secretary Dr. Zuhair Abbas al-Khidr, this source only SIPDIS commented that he is responsible for the more "shady" aspects of PM business. On one occasion she asked about a PM staffer that was detained. Abbas intimated that she should not speak of such things. Weeks later, he approached her to ask if she had an opportunity to hug the released staffer, hinting he was instrumental is getting him released. (Comment: Adnan Ali al-Kathimi told PolCouns December 18 that al-Khidr likely will not stay if there is a second Jafari prime ministry. End Comment.) ¶9. (C) In this source's opinion, Government Communications Director (GCD) Mohammed al-Asadi is the most corrupt man on the PM's team. Rumors abound that al-Asadi has his hand in militias, targeted attacks on politicians and govrnment fficials. Al-Asadi is working to consolidate his power by hiring his relatives. Many of the staffers in the PM's office fear Zuhair Abbas al-Khidr, but our source said they are even more nervous around al-Asadi. Dr. Abbas frequently liaises with al-Asadi. KHALILZAD