SECTARIAN CONCERNS AT IMN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001560

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/10/2016
TAGS: PGOV KDEM KPAS ECPS IZ
SUBJECT: SECTARIAN CONCERNS AT IMN

Classified By: Political Counselor Robert S. Ford, for Reasons 1.4 (B)
and (D)


1. (C) SUMMARY. In a May 4 meeting, Presidential media
advisor Hiwa Osman and former Iraqi Media Network (IMN)
Directors General Ahmad al-Rikaby and Jalal al-Mashta told
Poloff that media will be just as important to stemming
violence in Iraq as the security portfolio. They lamented
the growing sectarian bias in IMN reporting and programming,
and warned that the current DG, Habib al-Sadr, was lobbying
UIC leaders to include his position in government formation
political party agreements. They called for the immediate
replacement of al-Sadr by a non-sectarian, politically
independent, experienced professional. End Summary.

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IMN Promotes Shia, not National, Unity
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2. (C) Hiwa Osman, media advisor to President Jalal Talabani,
told Emboff May 4 that media has a very important role to
play in stemming sectarian violence in Iraq. He highlighted
the ability of the media to educate, foster dialogue and
promote reconciliation. Osman argued that, as the official
public service broadcaster for Iraq, IMN should be leading
the effort to unite all Iraqis, regardless of sect or
ethnicity. He accused IMN DG Habib al-Sadr of using IMN to
promote a sectarian agenda, spread propaganda, and curry
favor with Iraqi politicians and spiritual leaders.


3. (C) Former IMN DGs Ahmad al-Rikaby and Jalal al-Mashta,
who were also present at the meeting, agreed. They noted
that the war on terror is "not only fighting car bombs and
stopping civil war, it is changing the mentality of the
people." They said that Iraqiyya, the largest television
station in Iraq, routinely cuts away from scheduled
programming to air live Shia celebrations in Najaf. However,
none of the three media experts could recall ever seeing a
single Sunni, Christian or Kurdish program on the station.
Osman claimed that the morning prayer, broadcast on Iraqiyya,
included the verse, "may God curse the first, second and
third," which is a reference to the Sunni caliphs. They
complained that al-Sadr had completely removed any public
service aspect from Iraqiyya's programming, and was actively
using the medium to promote Shia, rather than national, unity.

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Al-Sadr Lobbying to Keep his Job?
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4. (C) Al-Rikaby and al-Mashta said that they still have
contacts in IMN with whom they regularly meet. These
contacts reported that al-Sadr had been lobbying outgoing PM
Ibrahim Jafari to include the IMN DG position in the
government formation negotiations, despite the fact that it
is not a ministerial position. They claimed Habib al-Sadr
had also lobbied Muqtada al-Sadr and SCIRI leader Abd al-Aziz
al-Hakim to support this initiative. (NOTE: Rikaby and
Mashta claimed that Habib al-Sadr is Muqtada's cousin and
Hakim's brother-in-law.) Although they said Habib al-Sadr
had not directly engaged PM-designate Nuri al-Maliki,
al-Rikaby and al-Mashta noted that IMN press coverage of the
new PM has been overwhelmingly favorable and in some cases,
"flattering."


5. (C) Al-Rikaby, al-Mashta and Osman all speculated that
Habib al-Sadr was confident of his support within the Shia
Coalition based on his ingratiating behavior. They claimed
that al-Sadr is a political partisan, not a media
professional. If his position were officially allocated to a
political party, he would be assured of staying on as DG, a
position that al-Rikaby said "comes with benefits."
Al-Rikaby alleged that those benefits have included paychecks
from several prominent politicians.


6. (C) Osman asked for US help in creating the conditions for
the right people to manage IMN, "an important institution
that will sell the vision of the new Iraq to the people."
While he admitted that the legal framework did not exist to
immediately fix IMN's problems, Osman emphasized that al-Sadr
needed to be removed as soon as possible. He suggested that
the current Board of Governors, which he charged was
illegally appointed by Allawi, be removed and the original
board, selected by CPA authorities, restored. The original
board, of which Osman was a member, could remove al-Sadr and
then vote to dissolve itself. They could appoint a caretaker
Board of Governors until the Council of Representatives (CoR)
selects a permanent board.

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Comment

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7. (C) Reaching nearly 70% of Iraqi households, Iraqiyya has
the potential to be a tool of sectarian or cross-sectarian
messaging. While the claims made here reflect only one view
of the issue, they are consistent with the general
disquietude many of our centrist contacts about the
management of IMN. Al-Sadr's management has been far from
stellar and politicization that began during Allawi's
government needs to be checked on all sides. CPA order 66,
which established IMN as the public service broadcaster for
Iraq, includes explicit provisions regarding the independence
of IMN. The examples cited above directly violate the
station's mandate to "reflect fairly and equitably the
regional, cultural and political diversity of Iraq," and
actively promote a Shia agenda at a time when sectarian
tensions continue to run high. The Embassy is currently
reviewing several steps to help put the public broadcaster
back on neutral footing. Among the first steps, we are
inviting experts and media contacts to a May 11 forum to
critically review the performance of IMN, with al-Sadr
attending.

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Bionote
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8. (C) Hiwa Osman is the son of noted Kurdish independent
politician Dr. Mahmud Othman. Osman speaks fluent English
and has an extensive background in media, having honed his
skills as a reporter for the BBC and a columnist for the
Washington Times. He considers himself a technocrat and a
political appointee who will leave the Presidency's Media
Office with President Talabani.
SATTERFIELD