IRAQ'S INTERIOR MINISTRY ISSUES WARRANT FOR

S E C R E T BAGHDAD 004277

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
NOFORN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/18/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PINS PNAT MOPS IZ
SUBJECT: IRAQ'S INTERIOR MINISTRY ISSUES WARRANT FOR
PROMINENT SUNNI CLERIC

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Daniel V. Speckhard for reasons 1.4 (b
) and (d).


1. (S/NF) Summary. On November 16 and 17, multiple Iraqi
media sources reported that Iraq's Ministry of Interior (MOI)
had issued a warrant for hard-line Sunni cleric Harith
al-Dhari, currently in Jordan, on unspecified charges. MOI
later announced that this was not an arrest warrant, but an
"interrogation" warrant. Minister of Interior Jawad
al-Bolani told CDA Speckhard that warrant is not political,
and is based on evidence linking al-Dhari to terrorism and
possibly the abduction of British citizen Margaret Hassan in

2005. The issuing of this warrant will further increase
friction between Sunni and Shiite political leaders. End
Summary.


2. (C) On November 16 and 17, multiple Iraqi media sources
reported that Iraq's Ministry of Interior (MOI) had issued a
warrant for the President of the Sunni Association of Muslim
Scholars (AMS) Harith al-Dhari. The charges and nature of
the warrant are still unclear. A GOI spokesman said on
November 17 that the warrant is not an arrest warrant, but an
"interrogation warrant." Al-Dhari is not currently in Iraq;
he gave a November 17 al-Jazeera interview from Jordan.


3. (C) Al-Dhari is a hard line cleric who has consistently
opposed Sunni participation in Iraq's Shiite-dominated
government, particularly while Coalition Forces remain in
Iraq. Al-Dhari has of late become so hard line that other
AMS clerics have begun to distance themselves from his
positions. Al-Dhari has recently spent much of his time
outside Iraq, including in Saudi Arabia.


4. (C) Iraqi Sunni political figures are divided over
al-Dhari. Iraqi VP al-Hashimi has privately told the
Ambassador that al-Dhari is not playing a constructive role.
On the other hand, Sunni Council of Representatives (CoR)
Speaker Mashadani has told the Ambassador that the Sunni
"street" respects al-Dhari and he could play the role of a
respected senior cleric, similar to the Shiite marjaeya. In
the wake of the news, Sunni Tawafuq bloc leader Adnan Dulami
publicly called for the government to rescind the warrant.


5. (S/NF) In a November 17 meeting with CDA Speckhard,
National Security Advisor Muwwafaq al-Rubaie said that senior
leaders in the GOI, including PM Maliki, had been caught by
surprise by the warrant. He said the MOI had taken the
decision without consulting others in the government. In a
follow-on meeting, MOI Bolani told CDA Speckhard that the
al-Dhari warrant was not politically driven but results from
evidence linking him to terrorism, adding that al-Dhari is
suspected of involvement in the 2004 abduction and murder of
UK citizen and C.A.R.E. director Margaret Hassan. Bolani
emphasized to the CDA that he is non-political and is
handling cases as they come to him.


6. (C) Comment: Although key facts are still unclear, this
incident will increase friction between Iraq's Sunni and
Shiite political leaders. It will also increase popular
Sunni mistrust for the GOI, particularly in the wake of the
November 14 mass kidnapping at the Ministry of Higher
Education. In a private conversation with the Charge, NSA
Rubaie lamented the MOI action and its political fallout and
indicated that he and DPM Barham Saleh had to work hard to
make sure the warrant was only for "questioning" as a way to
mitigate its impact. End Comment.
SPECKHARD