Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BAGHDAD1025
2006-03-29 10:35:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:
COR MEMBERS ALLEGE DISPLACEMENT CONTINUES
how-toVZCZCXRO5440 PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK RUEHMOS DE RUEHGB #1025 0881035 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 291035Z MAR 06 FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3604 INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHINGTON DC RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 001025
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/29/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINS PTER KDEM KISL KAWC IZ
SUBJECT: COR MEMBERS ALLEGE DISPLACEMENT CONTINUES
REF: (A) BAGHDAD 768 (B) BAGHDAD 773
Classified By: Political Counselor Robert S. Ford for
reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).
C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 001025
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/29/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINS PTER KDEM KISL KAWC IZ
SUBJECT: COR MEMBERS ALLEGE DISPLACEMENT CONTINUES
REF: (A) BAGHDAD 768 (B) BAGHDAD 773
Classified By: Political Counselor Robert S. Ford for
reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).
1. (C) SUMMARY. Shia Council of Representatives (CoR)
members report more displacements of Shia families under
threat of violence. Shia Coalition member Hassan Radi al-
Sari (Missan Governorate) and Iraqiyya List member Shaykh
Jamal Abd al-Mehdi al-Shemari (Wasit Governorate) told
PolOffs March 16 and March 26 respectively that Shia
families have fled their homes in Baghdad or Sunni-majority
governorates and are arriving in their governorates.
Poloffs have received similar complaints about displacement
of Sunni Arab and Christian families in Baghdad and Basra.
The issue has sustained its high media profile throughout
the month of March. END SUMMARY
-------------- --------------
DISPLACED SHIA FAMILIES ARRIVING IN MISSAN AND WASIT
-------------- --------------
2. (C) Shia Coalition and CoR member Hassan Radi al-Sari
(Missan Governorate) told PolOffs March 16 that displaced
Shia families have arrived in Missan from Anbar, Samarra,
and Abu Gharaib. PolOffs asked if any families had come
from Baghdad, and he answered no. He estimated the number
of displaced families at 270 in Maysan. He said these
people were from families that had left Missan in the
1950's and 1960's. He said the arrival of these people was
driving up local real estate prices.
3. (C) Al-Sari told PolOffs that, before these families
left, they had faced increasing levels of threats: first
threatening letters, then harassment, then killings, and
finally a firm deadline to move out of their houses
(without taking anything). He stated that the Sunni Arab
neighbors have reportedly been passive and silent when
these actions occur. He alleged that the perpetrators were
Iraqis and not foreign terrorists.
4. (C) Iraqiyya List and CoR member Shaykh Jamal Abd al-
Mehdi al-Shemari (Wasit Governorate) told PolOff March 26
that an estimated 300 displaced Shia families had arrived
in Wasit to date from Abu Gharaib and the Baghdad
neighborhoods of Saydiyah and Amiriyah. He added that the
arrival of these displaced Shia families is making it more
difficult to protect Sunni families living in Wasit. He
said most of the displaced families are staying with
relatives. He stated that some left because of the
perceived threat and others because of direct threats. He
alleged that the insurgents are trying to divide Baghdad -
Karkh District for the Sunnis and Rusafa District for the
Shia.
--------------
COMMENT
--------------
5. (C) Throughout the month of March we have heard
complaints about expulsions of Shia families. Senior SCIRI
cleric Sheikh Jalal al-Din al-Sagheer, in a March 16
conversation with Poloff, claimed that Minister of Defense
Dulaymi confirmed to him after the COR ceremony that 940
Shia families had been forcibly displaced from the Taji and
Naruwhan suburbs of Baghdad. Another SCIRI
parliamentarian, Zayna al-Gerairi, told us in the same
meeting that in Baqubah and the surrounding villages, many
Shia are being killed everyday. Those being killed have no
political agendas, she claimed, and the killings appeared
to be completely random. Prompted by al-Sagheer, al-
Gerairi added that families were also being displaced in
that section of Diyala province. Meanwhile, senior Sunni
Arab leaders have for the last several weeks been making
similar claims to EmbassyOffs about forcible displacements
and killings of Sunni Arab families by Shia militia and
Ministry of Interior police and commandos. Reporting by
NGO's and the Human Rights Ministry (reftels) indicates
that Shia (and Sunni) families moving out of mixed
neighborhoods back to their places of origins (or where
their families are located). TV stations like pro-SCIRI
al-Furat and Shia Islamist al-Iraqiya have carried
prominent prime-time stories this week of the woes of
displaced families, maintaining the issue's high profile.
KHALILZAD
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/29/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINS PTER KDEM KISL KAWC IZ
SUBJECT: COR MEMBERS ALLEGE DISPLACEMENT CONTINUES
REF: (A) BAGHDAD 768 (B) BAGHDAD 773
Classified By: Political Counselor Robert S. Ford for
reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).
1. (C) SUMMARY. Shia Council of Representatives (CoR)
members report more displacements of Shia families under
threat of violence. Shia Coalition member Hassan Radi al-
Sari (Missan Governorate) and Iraqiyya List member Shaykh
Jamal Abd al-Mehdi al-Shemari (Wasit Governorate) told
PolOffs March 16 and March 26 respectively that Shia
families have fled their homes in Baghdad or Sunni-majority
governorates and are arriving in their governorates.
Poloffs have received similar complaints about displacement
of Sunni Arab and Christian families in Baghdad and Basra.
The issue has sustained its high media profile throughout
the month of March. END SUMMARY
-------------- --------------
DISPLACED SHIA FAMILIES ARRIVING IN MISSAN AND WASIT
-------------- --------------
2. (C) Shia Coalition and CoR member Hassan Radi al-Sari
(Missan Governorate) told PolOffs March 16 that displaced
Shia families have arrived in Missan from Anbar, Samarra,
and Abu Gharaib. PolOffs asked if any families had come
from Baghdad, and he answered no. He estimated the number
of displaced families at 270 in Maysan. He said these
people were from families that had left Missan in the
1950's and 1960's. He said the arrival of these people was
driving up local real estate prices.
3. (C) Al-Sari told PolOffs that, before these families
left, they had faced increasing levels of threats: first
threatening letters, then harassment, then killings, and
finally a firm deadline to move out of their houses
(without taking anything). He stated that the Sunni Arab
neighbors have reportedly been passive and silent when
these actions occur. He alleged that the perpetrators were
Iraqis and not foreign terrorists.
4. (C) Iraqiyya List and CoR member Shaykh Jamal Abd al-
Mehdi al-Shemari (Wasit Governorate) told PolOff March 26
that an estimated 300 displaced Shia families had arrived
in Wasit to date from Abu Gharaib and the Baghdad
neighborhoods of Saydiyah and Amiriyah. He added that the
arrival of these displaced Shia families is making it more
difficult to protect Sunni families living in Wasit. He
said most of the displaced families are staying with
relatives. He stated that some left because of the
perceived threat and others because of direct threats. He
alleged that the insurgents are trying to divide Baghdad -
Karkh District for the Sunnis and Rusafa District for the
Shia.
--------------
COMMENT
--------------
5. (C) Throughout the month of March we have heard
complaints about expulsions of Shia families. Senior SCIRI
cleric Sheikh Jalal al-Din al-Sagheer, in a March 16
conversation with Poloff, claimed that Minister of Defense
Dulaymi confirmed to him after the COR ceremony that 940
Shia families had been forcibly displaced from the Taji and
Naruwhan suburbs of Baghdad. Another SCIRI
parliamentarian, Zayna al-Gerairi, told us in the same
meeting that in Baqubah and the surrounding villages, many
Shia are being killed everyday. Those being killed have no
political agendas, she claimed, and the killings appeared
to be completely random. Prompted by al-Sagheer, al-
Gerairi added that families were also being displaced in
that section of Diyala province. Meanwhile, senior Sunni
Arab leaders have for the last several weeks been making
similar claims to EmbassyOffs about forcible displacements
and killings of Sunni Arab families by Shia militia and
Ministry of Interior police and commandos. Reporting by
NGO's and the Human Rights Ministry (reftels) indicates
that Shia (and Sunni) families moving out of mixed
neighborhoods back to their places of origins (or where
their families are located). TV stations like pro-SCIRI
al-Furat and Shia Islamist al-Iraqiya have carried
prominent prime-time stories this week of the woes of
displaced families, maintaining the issue's high profile.
KHALILZAD