Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BAGHDAD3456
2006-09-14 19:35:00
SECRET
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:  

MCNS - MALIKI ON OIL SMUGGLING, DIYALA SECURITY

Tags:  IZ MOPS PGOV PINS PNAT PREL PTER 
pdf how-to read a cable
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O 141935Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6915
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/CJCS WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL IMMEDIATE
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S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 003456 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/13/2016
TAGS: IZ MOPS PGOV PINS PNAT PREL PTER
SUBJECT: MCNS - MALIKI ON OIL SMUGGLING, DIYALA SECURITY

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Daniel Speckhard for reasons 1.4 (b) a
nd (d)

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 003456

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/13/2016
TAGS: IZ MOPS PGOV PINS PNAT PREL PTER
SUBJECT: MCNS - MALIKI ON OIL SMUGGLING, DIYALA SECURITY

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Daniel Speckhard for reasons 1.4 (b) a
nd (d)


1. (S/REL GBR AUS) SUMMARY: During the September 10 meeting
of the Ministerial Committee for National Security, Iraqi
Prime Minister Maliki:
-- Cited petroleum smuggling as a key source of terrorist
financing that must be addressed together with energy
infrastructure protection;
-- Called for better control of entry points on the border
with Jordan and improved security on the Baghdad-Jordan
highway;
-- Expressed strong concern over the deteriorating security
situation in Diyala province and ordered that provincial
government and security officials be brought together to plan
countermeasures;
-- Asserted that multiple operations centers could not
substitute for interagency coordination in the field.
Maliki called for simpler command and control arrangements.
END SUMMARY

--------------
OIL SMUGGLING
--------------


2. (S/REL GBR AUS) Prime Minister Maliki said that terrorists
were involved in a range of organized criminal activities,
including oil smuggling. Fourteen tanker trucks used for oil
smuggling had recently been seized, along with falsified
documents, car bombs, and an array of weapons. Eight
terrorists had been arrested.


3. (S/REL GBR AUS) Noting that the Bayji-Bagdad pipeline had
been sabotaged, Maliki asserted that a political solution was
required for resolution of the interlocked fuel smuggling and
infrastructure problems. Technology and the support of local
people must be harnessed to protect pipelines and prevent
smuggling. He asked Ministers to join coalition forces in
studying the issue, stating that there was a need for a long
term plan to secure Iraqi oil. The Minister of State for
National Security suggested building up the Coast Guard and
forming a National Association to Combat Smuggling.

--------------
IRAN'S ROLE
--------------


4. (S/REL GBR AUS) Maliki commented that a security agreement

with Iran might be a useful anti-smuggling tool. At present,
he said, Iranian border police participate in smuggling.
Maliki appealed for coalition assistance in combating
smuggling in the Northern Gulf. Maliki said that the UN or
Arab League might also be asked to play a role in organizing
the efforts of neighboring countries to combat the smuggling
of Iraqi oil.

--------------
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES FOR OIL SMUGGLING
--------------


5. (S/REL GBR AUS) Minister of Interior Boulani said that
regional fuel price differential encouraged people to steal.
He called for the relevant laws to be simplified and the
prices rationalized. Deputy National Security Advisor Dr.
Safaa said the Deputy Ministerial Committee for National
Security was studying a plan to bring Iraq's fuel prices into
line with neighboring countries, depriving smugglers of a
profit motive. Safaa noted that Deputy Ministerial Committee
for National Security had also discussed a proposed National
Operations Center to would coordinate the anti-smuggling
actions of various ministries.


6. (S/REL GBR AUS) The Prime Minister declared that Iraq's
current infrastructure protection force was neither qualified
nor loyal. New units should be formed, he said, and aircraft
used to patrol pipelines and electrical power lines.
Agreements aimed at seeking Iraq's tribes' cooperation had
been an expensive failure, opined Maliki.


7. (S/REL GBR AUS) MNC-I's Commanding General Chiarelli said
that although Iraq's strategic infrastructure battalions are
improving, corruption continues to rob the country of its
wealth. Chiarelli said that Operation Spigot -- a joint
Coalition-Oil Ministry plan -- could soon be implemented to
enable the Coalition and Iraq to work more aggressively to
arrest smugglers. Coalition forces were also analyzing how
many troops are needed to protect power lines. Chiarelli
would soon be able to provide this information to Iraqi
leaders.

BAGHDAD 00003456 002 OF 003



--------------
DIYALA
--------------


8. (S/REL GBR AUS) The Prime Minister turned to the
deteriorating security situation in Diyala province. He
listed his concerns:
-- Residents are being forced to flee their houses;
-- Murders and kidnappings are increasing;
-- Baathists are resurgent, again putting up pictures of
Saddam;
-- Provincial officials are unreliable, with the Deputy
Governor suspected of cooperating with Baathists and the
Iranian Muhajedin-e-Khalq terrorist organization.


9. (S/REL GBR AUS) Minister of Interior Boulani felt that two
additional police battalions are needed in the province.
Minister of Defense Abdul Qader agreed that there are not
enough troops, especially around Baqubah, and said that two
or three additional army brigades are required.


10. (S/REL GBR AUS) Maliki ordered that Province's Governor,
Police Chief and Army Division commander be brought together
with the Ministers of Defense and Interior to review the
situation and plan countermeasures. He underlined that
coalition forces would play the key role in reestablishing
Diyala's security.

--------------
BAGHDAD SECURITY
--------------


11. (S/REL GBR AUS) During the regular Baghdad Security
update, Minister of Defense Abdul Qader Al-Muffraji claimed
that terrorists were now concentrating attacks on civilians
instead of against Iraqi security forces. He expressed
concern over foreign fighters from Syria coming in to Iraq in
order to carry out suicide bombings. He advocated greater
security efforts in areas where car bombs are produced.


12. (S/REL GBR AUS) Al-Muffraji continued that security
forces' work must be complemented by action from civilian
agencies. He asserted that there had been a failure to
provide services like banks, medical care, clean water and
electricity in newly secured neighborhoods. He said that
past security operations in Najaf and Tal Afar had been
complemented by civil action. Ministries had set up
operations rooms to coordinate civil support.


13. (S/REL GBR AUS) Both Minister of Interior Boulani and
Commanding General of the Joint Forces, General Babakir
Baderkhan Zibari claimed that civilian confidence in the
Iraqi police forces was increasing. General said that
although people "feared the national police," effective
security operations were improving its image. Boulani
acknowledged that there were not as many returns of
internally displaced families to their homes in newly cleared
areas in Baghdad as had been hoped for.


14. (S/REL GBR AUS) Boulani stressed the importance of
thoroughly surveying neighborhoods and vetting each house's
residents, especially when previous residents have been
displaced. He cited a raid earlier in the day on a terrorist
safe house that had yielded a ton of explosives, including
anti-tank mines, suicide vests, and counterfeit documents.
The house's owners had been forced out by sectarian threats
and the house was occupied by terrorists who set up a front
business.

--------------
DIVISIVE FEDERALISM DEBATE
--------------


15. (S/REL GBR AUS) In response to a recommendation that the
debate over federalism in the Council of Representatives be
postponed, in order to avoid political tumult, the Prime
Minister said stability was a necessary precondition for
federalism. Although he supported federalism, he was
concerned that the acrimonious debate could stall his
national reconciliation efforts. Maliki said that
constitutionally mandated sixth month timetable to handle the
federalism issue, made it necessary to handle the issue now.
The Prime Minister indicated that Parliamentary Speaker
Mahmud al-Mashadani had previously told him an agreement for
federalism had been brokered, so he was surprised when
Council of Representatives members walked out of the debate
and the session had to be abandoned.


BAGHDAD 00003456 003 OF 003


--------------
COMMAND AND CONTROL PROBLEMS
--------------


16. (S/REL GBR AUS) Director General Iraqi National
Intelligence Service Mohammed Al-Shawani reported that
Saddam's henchman, Baathist leader Izzat Al Douri, had been
recently spotted near Al Khalis in Diyala province where he
had gone to visit a religious advisor. Minister of Interior
Boulani intervened to complain that he had not been
immediately notified and protested of poor interagency
coordination. The Minister of State for National Security
agreed, citing recent discussion of this theme on the
National Intelligence Council.


17. (S/REL GBR AUS) Al-Shawani said that the INIS had
recently provided warning that a Baqubah resident was
targeted for kidnapping but no preventative action was taken
and the individual was later kidnapped. He said that there
had been many similar cases. It was necessary to establish a
standard course of action linking intelligence to operations.
Abdul Qader responded that the Ministry of Defense had
well-defined and well-rehearsed procedures for such cases.


18. (S/REL GBR AUS) Prime Minister Maliki opined that further
coordinating mechanisms or operations centers are not
required, there was a need to simplify current arrangements.
There were already many in existence, at various levels.
Maliki specified that cooperation in the field is the key
requirement.
SPECKHARD