TALABANI, AMBASSADOR DISCUSS PCNS, SYRIA, PUK

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003927

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/18/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER SY IZ
SUBJECT: TALABANI, AMBASSADOR DISCUSS PCNS, SYRIA, PUK
ELECTIONS

REF: BAGHDAD 3873

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


1. (S) SUMMARY: In a meeting on October 14, President
Talabani informed the Ambassador that the Policy Committee on
National Security (PCNS) met that day to discuss pressing
security and political issues, and had resolved to keep its
session open until the key issues have been resolved.
Although most of the participants had endorsed Prime Minister
Nuri al-Maliki's "4-Point Plan" for Baghdad security,
influential Sunni Vice President Tarik al-Hashimi had not yet
signed on to the plan. Talabani promised the Ambassador that
he would persuade al-Hashimi to endorse Maliki's plan by
October 15, so that he can join the other Iraqi Government
officials in presenting the plan to the Iraqi public. In
related news, presidential advisor Fakhri Karim gave the
Ambassador a readout on his recent visit to Damascus, and
Syria's claims of support for the new Iraqi Government.
Karim noted, however, that despite Syrian officials' claims
to support Baghdad and its efforts on anti-terrorism, they
were loath to distance themselves publicly from the "Iraqi
resistance" and the Saddamists/Baathists operating in Iraq.
Finally, Talabani informed the Ambassador that the recent PUK
elections were going very well so far, with only the
Provincial elections still to be held. He was particularly
pleased that senior PUK faction leader Kosrat Rasul Ali
appeared to hold a comfortable lead over another senior PUK
leader - and Talabani challenger - Noshirwan Mustafa. END
SUMMARY.

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PCNS Session to Continue Until All Issues Resolved
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2. (S) In a late night meeting on October 14 with President
Jalal Talabani and his advisor Fakhri Karim, Talabani
informed the Ambassador that the Policy Committee on National
Security (PCNS) meeting that afternoon had focused mainly on
security issues, although Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had
insisted on also linking the security discussion to political
issues. Maliki presented a proposal for implementing his
"4-Point Plan," for which both Talabani and Shia Vice
President Adil Abd al-Mahdi expressed their support.
Talabani also noted that SCIRI leader Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim
had been very tense during the meeting. He demanded better
cooperation among the different political groups on key
issues; Talabani indicated that Hakim was still upset over
the difficult negotiations on federalism in the Council of
Representatives. In addition, Hakim also complained that
other groups were trying to remove the Shia; he referred to a
recently published paper calling for political parties to
challenge the Shia Coalition's leadership. The other members
of the PCNS tried in vain to point out that the paper in
question had been signed only by Al Qa'ida in Iraq (AQIZ)
members. Talabani noted that the Shia Coalition had been
very downbeat in their assessment of the overall situation in
Iraq. (NOTE: In a separate meeting later that same night,
Kurdish Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih and former
Transitional National Assembly Speaker Hajim al-Hassani
confirmed that Hakim had been on edge during the PCNS, and
al-Hassani stated that he had heard the Shia Coalition admit
for the first time that the current situation in Iraq is the
worst it has been in the past three years. END NOTE.)


3. (S) Even more troubling, Talabani said, was Sunni Arab
Vice-President Tarik al-Hashimi's continuing absence from the
PCNS. In increasing frustration with what he perceives to be
the marginalization of Sunni Arab parties in the government,
al-Hashimi has been withdrawing from the political process
and did not attend the October 14 PCNS meeting. In addition,
Talabani reported, he is the only senior Iraqi Government
official who has not yet signed on to the Prime Minister's
4-Point Plan. Abd al-Mahdi suggested postponing the
announcement of Maliki's proposal, to give al-Hashimi a
chance to accept the document and be present with the rest of
the Iraqi leadership when they announced it to the people.
Talabani promised the Ambassador that he would convince
al-Hashimi to sign the agreement by October 15 (reftel).
Given all the issues that remained unresolved during
yesterday's PCNS meeting, Talabani reported that the group
had decided to keep the session "open" until all the points
were settled. (NOTE: Presidency Council Chief of Staff
Kamran Karadaghi told POLOFF on October 15 that keeping the
session open did not necessarily mean there would be more
meetings, but that the members would continue to consult each
other daily on the unresolved items. END NOTE.)

BAGHDAD 00003927 002 OF 002



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Overtures from the Syrians
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4. (S) Presidential advisor Fakhri Karim then gave a readout
of his recent visit to Syria, where he claimed to have
confronted them about their lack of support for the fledging
Iraqi Government. Karim, who noted that he had spent over 30
years collectively in Syria, pressed Syrian officials like
Walid Muallim to ask Syrian President Bashar al-Asad for his
official position on the following questions:

-- Support for GOI: Muallim and other Syrian officials
assured Karim that they supported the Government of Iraq, but
noted that setting a timetable for MNF-I withdrawal from Iraq
would help increase support in Damascus and in other Arab
states for assisting Iraq.

-- Position on Terrorism: Muallim denied accusations that
Syria was not doing enough to combat terrorism, claiming that
Damascus' crackdown at the border had led to increased
protests from AQIZ members. In the end, however, Muallim
promised that the Syrian Government would issue a strongly
worded statement against terrorism, but would refrain from
mentioning anything about "the Iraqi resistance."

-- Position on Saddamists: Muallim stated that Syria could
not afford to alienate domestic political opinion by making
any statements against the Saddamists, because they were
fellow Baath Party members. He claimed, however, that if
relations between Syria and Iraq continued to normalize the
Syrian population would begin to call for distancing
themselves from the Saddamists.

Karim added that the Syrians suggested one way to improve
relations between Syria and Iraq was to share information on
suspected terrorists who had been detained in Syria: Muallim
referred to a list of over 1300 prisoners affiliated with
AQIZ, Lebanon, etc. In return, Iraq would exchange the
Syrians being held as foreign fighter detainees to Damascus
in exchange for Iraqi prisoners in Syria.

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PUK Elections a Success
--------------


5. (C) Finally, Talabani noted that the recent Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan (PUK) elections had been a success, with
"very free elections." The new PUK party members had all
emphasized loyalty to the Secretary General (Talabani) and to
the unity of the PUK, and Talabani believed they were
well-prepared to be the new leaders of the party. More than
450,000 Kurds participated in the elections, he said, with
all but the Provincial Committee elections yet to be held.
In response to the Ambassador's query, Talabani admitted that
there had been one violent incident, in Khifri, between
members of the Zengana and Jafri tribes. Talabani openly
gloated, however, that "his" candidate Kosrat Rasul Ali had
dominated the elections over Talabani challenger Noshirwan
Mustafa.
SPECKHARD