Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BAGHDAD2085
2006-06-19 17:37:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:
DOCTOR COMPLAINS OF JAYSH AL-MAHDI "TAKEOVERS" AT
how-toVZCZCXRO3756 PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK DE RUEHGB #2085 1701737 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 191737Z JUN 06 FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5165 INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC RHEHWSR/WHITE HOUSE SITUATION ROOM WASHINGTON DC
C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 002085
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/19/2026
TAGS: PHUM PNAT KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: DOCTOR COMPLAINS OF JAYSH AL-MAHDI "TAKEOVERS" AT
HOSPITALS
REF: BAGHDAD 2047
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR MARGARET SCOBEY, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B)
AND (D).
C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 002085
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/19/2026
TAGS: PHUM PNAT KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: DOCTOR COMPLAINS OF JAYSH AL-MAHDI "TAKEOVERS" AT
HOSPITALS
REF: BAGHDAD 2047
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR MARGARET SCOBEY, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B)
AND (D).
1. (C) On June 8, Dr Bashor (LNU),an emergency care
physician at Karama hospital (located in the Saliya
neighborhood near the IZ),complained to Poloff that Jaysh
al-Mahdi (JAM) militia hospital "takeovers" have become
common practice in several hospitals across Baghdad,
including his own. The takeovers, Dr. Bashar alleged, occur
when JAM members have been injured in action and are in need
of medical attention. Dr. Bashar said that medical personnel
are afraid to publicly complain because of a common belief
that many Facility Protection Staff (FPS) guarding the
hospital themselves moonlight as JAM members.
2. (C) In one instance, May 14, Dr. Bashar said that his
hospital was flooded with JAM members after an injured
associate was brought into the hospital. When Poloff asked
how he knew the incoming person was JAM, Bashar replied that
the patient in question himself admitted to being JAM and
told his caretakers he was injured in a "raid" on a house.
Dr. Bashar said that as soon as this particular patient was
brought in, large numbers of JAM stormed the hospital,
fanning out to each floor and roughly commanding doctors to
the care of their injured associate.
3. (C) Astounded by the sheer number of JAM members that had
taken over the hospital, the doctor called the Iraqi Police
(IP) and Iraqi Army (IA). IA finally showed up after two
hours, according to Dr. Bashor, but refused to evict any of
the JAM. "They simply watched as JAM commanded the
hospital." This type of event, he said, has been a common
occurrence at Karama hospital, and at other hospitals. Dr.
Bashor told PolOff that colleagues at Baghdad's Yarmouk
hospital indicate that JAM-style "take-overs" have also
occurred there. "We are too afraid to respond to these
situations", he said, "other than through the media or the
international community". Bashor claimed that it was
well-known among medical staff that the FPS are infiltrated
by JAM.
4. (C) Dr. Bashor further reported that several Baghdad
hospitals have become dangerous places for Sunni Arabs. Dr.
Bashor, himself a Sunni, pointed to al-Noor hospital, where
he claimed family members on their way to visit family
members or picking up deceased are known to disappear and
later reappear dead. Dr. Bashor noted that consequently many
bodies have remained uncollected at Al-Noor hospital, which
is located in front of an al-Sadr office.
5. (C) Comment: We have heard from other Baghdad Sunni
residents who are afraid of picking up their family members'
remains from morgues for fear of being targeted there (as
elsewhere) by Jaysh al-Mahdi. Bashor's account runs parallel
to other reports such as that of the recent abduction of the
Tawafuq nominee for Deputy Minister of Health while he was
visiting the Sadrist-run Health Ministry (reftel).
SPECKHARD
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/19/2026
TAGS: PHUM PNAT KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: DOCTOR COMPLAINS OF JAYSH AL-MAHDI "TAKEOVERS" AT
HOSPITALS
REF: BAGHDAD 2047
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR MARGARET SCOBEY, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B)
AND (D).
1. (C) On June 8, Dr Bashor (LNU),an emergency care
physician at Karama hospital (located in the Saliya
neighborhood near the IZ),complained to Poloff that Jaysh
al-Mahdi (JAM) militia hospital "takeovers" have become
common practice in several hospitals across Baghdad,
including his own. The takeovers, Dr. Bashar alleged, occur
when JAM members have been injured in action and are in need
of medical attention. Dr. Bashar said that medical personnel
are afraid to publicly complain because of a common belief
that many Facility Protection Staff (FPS) guarding the
hospital themselves moonlight as JAM members.
2. (C) In one instance, May 14, Dr. Bashar said that his
hospital was flooded with JAM members after an injured
associate was brought into the hospital. When Poloff asked
how he knew the incoming person was JAM, Bashar replied that
the patient in question himself admitted to being JAM and
told his caretakers he was injured in a "raid" on a house.
Dr. Bashar said that as soon as this particular patient was
brought in, large numbers of JAM stormed the hospital,
fanning out to each floor and roughly commanding doctors to
the care of their injured associate.
3. (C) Astounded by the sheer number of JAM members that had
taken over the hospital, the doctor called the Iraqi Police
(IP) and Iraqi Army (IA). IA finally showed up after two
hours, according to Dr. Bashor, but refused to evict any of
the JAM. "They simply watched as JAM commanded the
hospital." This type of event, he said, has been a common
occurrence at Karama hospital, and at other hospitals. Dr.
Bashor told PolOff that colleagues at Baghdad's Yarmouk
hospital indicate that JAM-style "take-overs" have also
occurred there. "We are too afraid to respond to these
situations", he said, "other than through the media or the
international community". Bashor claimed that it was
well-known among medical staff that the FPS are infiltrated
by JAM.
4. (C) Dr. Bashor further reported that several Baghdad
hospitals have become dangerous places for Sunni Arabs. Dr.
Bashor, himself a Sunni, pointed to al-Noor hospital, where
he claimed family members on their way to visit family
members or picking up deceased are known to disappear and
later reappear dead. Dr. Bashor noted that consequently many
bodies have remained uncollected at Al-Noor hospital, which
is located in front of an al-Sadr office.
5. (C) Comment: We have heard from other Baghdad Sunni
residents who are afraid of picking up their family members'
remains from morgues for fear of being targeted there (as
elsewhere) by Jaysh al-Mahdi. Bashor's account runs parallel
to other reports such as that of the recent abduction of the
Tawafuq nominee for Deputy Minister of Health while he was
visiting the Sadrist-run Health Ministry (reftel).
SPECKHARD