AMBASSADOR URGES SUNNI LEADERS TO PARTICIPATE IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 003335

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/07/2016
TAGS: PGOV KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR URGES SUNNI LEADERS TO PARTICIPATE IN
POLITICAL COMMITTEE MEETING

Classified By: Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) The Ambassador told the Speaker of the Council of
Representatives (CoR) Dr. Mahmoud Mashhadani September 7
that, for Iraq to succeed, the political parties need to
cooperate to strengthen the unity government and to deal with
tough, divisive issues. The Ambassador encouraged the
Speaker to attend the Political Committee meeting that
evening to discuss these issues (e.g., hydrocarbon,
federalism, provincial elections) and to reach agreement on
timelines for resolution. The Speaker replied that Vice
President Tariq al-Hashimi had told him and Deputy Prime
Minister Salam al-Zubai that they should not attend the
meeting because al-Hashimi feels Prime Minister Maliki is
marginalizing the Sunni Arabs. The Ambassador warned that if
Tawafuq boycotts the meeting, it risks being seen as not
serious about the national unity government.


2. (U) The Ambassador also encouraged the Tawafuq bloc
partners to work closely with each other. The Speaker
agreed, noting a disagreement the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP)
and the National Dialogue Council, both Tawafuq members, over
the allocation of ministerial appointments, one that could be
solved if deputy ministers were appointed per the government
formation agreement. He added that Tawafuq wants to see
Sunni Defense Minister Abd al-Qadr replaced because they
consider him weak and unable to resist Shia pressure. He
cited an incident where the Minister refused to send troops
to investigate a Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM) weapons cache because,
the Minister said, the ARMY could not handle the JAM. The
Speaker also described DPM Salam al-Zubai as incompetent, and
said Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Rafia al-Esawi or
CoR member Dhafer al-Ani would be better candidates.


3. (C) In a follow-on meeting with a delegation of Tawafuq
CoR members, Abd al-Nasr al-Janabi told the Ambassador that
the Constitutional Review Committee needs to be activated per
Article 142. He said the Shia Coalition and Kurdish Alliance
are impeding its activation and do not want reconciliation.
Dr. Alaa Mekki stated that federalism should be postponed
until the constitutional review is completed. He added that,
if not, there will be political problems. The Ambassador
reiterated that real national reconciliation will not happen
without agreement on the tough issues and that such agreement
will require compromises from all sides. (Note: VP Abdel
Mehdi informed the Ambassador that Mashhadani and Zubai did
attend the political committee meeting, but VP al-Hashimi did
not. End Note.)
KHALILZAD