PM JAFARI ON FOREIGN FIGHTERS, SADDAMISTS AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 000310 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/04/2026 TAGS: PGOV PNAT KDEM IZ SUBJECT: PM JAFARI ON FOREIGN FIGHTERS, SADDAMISTS AND "RESISTANCE" REF: BAGHDAD 283 Classified By: POL Couns Robert Ford for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) ¶1. (C) During a January 31 discussion, Prime Minister Jafari told the Ambassador that Tekfiris (religious fanatics) and criminal Saddamists must be stopped at all costs. Jafari referred to the TNA anti-terrorism law that should be justly applied to these groups. There could be no negotiations with such groups, he underlined. Jafari, however, differentiated between those groups and the so-called resistance - groups that protest Coalition support or Iraq's new government. He opined that breaking down the resistance requires getting at its popular base and perhaps communicating with some of its leaders. He suggested by giving disaffected youth opportunities for education and employment, there would be no need for them to join the resistance or look to foreign states for support. ¶2. (C) Comment: Jafari has a sense of some of the realities that drive alienated Iraqis to arms. He is more inclined than most in the Shia Islamist Coaliton to seek an honorable deal with the Sunni Arab political leadership and give a positive signal to alienated Sunni Arabs. That said, we have not seen him move with alacrity to address the problems that he recognizes aggravate the insurgency. Notably, we have not seen him move aggressively to investigate allegations of Ministry of Interior abuses or move to stop abuses. KHALILZAD