MODERATE IRAQI SHI'A CLERIC SUPPORTS MALIKI BUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 004126

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/05/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINS IZ
SUBJECT: MODERATE IRAQI SHI'A CLERIC SUPPORTS MALIKI BUT
CRITICIZES HIS GOVERNMENT


Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Robert Gilchrist for reasons
1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) John Hannah, National Security Advisor to the Vice
President, met on October 19
with Ayatollah Hussein al-Sadr, a moderate Shi'a cleric based
in the Kadhimiya
neighborhood of Baghdad who had supported former Prime
Minister Alawi's list in the
December 2005 elections. Al-Sadr opened with profuse
expressions of gratitude for the
President and the United States for their historic
accomplishment in liberating the Iraqi
people from a horrible tyrant and beginning to build real
constitutional democracy in
Iraq. Al-Sadr described Prime Minister Maliki as an
individual in glowing terms, calling
him "a transparent, truthful Iraqi patriot." But he
criticized Maliki's government on
several grounds. First, he said, intra-Shi'a rivalries were
weakening the government, as
Shi'a coalition leaders, particularly from SCIRI, were not
providing Maliki their full
support. He also described many of the current ministers as
weak and lacking expertise,
arguing that they were not loyal to the Prime Minister but to
their respective parties. Al-
Sadr advocated that political parties be represented in
Parliament but not in the ministries,
thus allowing the Prime Minister to select technocratic,
non-partisan ministers. He
stressed that the ministries must be accountable to Maliki,
who thus must be accountable
to the people.


2. (C) Al-Sadr also lamented the interference of neighboring
states. Iran, he noted, "has
its tools like Muqtada (al-Sadr) and SCIRI/Badr." Though
Iraqi people did not accept
Iranian interference, he continued, "they have a great amount
of dollars to spend so they
are able to accomplish some things." Sunni extremists, he
noted, were receiving support
from Wahhabis and from Syria and Jordan. Al-Sadr stated that
this interference would
continue until Iraq was able to control its borders
effectively.


3. (C) Al-Sadr also touched on the Iraqi police, national
reconciliation, and federalism.
He noted that the Iraqi police had too many inexperienced
officers who had been unjustly
promoted beyond their capabilities. Mentioning several of
his personal efforts to bring
together Sunni and Shi'a religious and civic leaders over the
past year and a half, al-Sadr
welcomed the government's interest in reconciliation but
criticized it for coming too late
and expressed his dissatisfaction with Minister of State for
National Reconciliation
Akram al-Hakim. Al-Sadr described federalism as a hallmark
of a civilized society, but
noted that Iraq needed to work on improving its central
government before moving
further toward federalism, otherwise it would divide the
country. Despite the problems
he raised, al-Sadr expressed his appreciation for U.S. action
in bringing democracy to
Iraq and compared Iraq's current situation to that of a
patient recovering from a difficult
but essential surgery.


4. (U) This cable was cleared by OVPNSA John Hannah.
KHALILZAD