IRAQI VP HASHIMI ON REGIONAL TRAVEL, RECENT MEDIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 004305

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER IZ
SUBJECT: IRAQI VP HASHIMI ON REGIONAL TRAVEL, RECENT MEDIA
STATEMENTS


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


1. (C) Summary: Iraq's Sunni Vice President Tariq
Al-Hashimi told Charge he was disappointed at the hesitation
and lack of direction about Iraq he found among Gulf
interlocutors during a recent trip to the region. Hashimi
defended his recent public statements threatening Sunni
withdrawal from Iraq's unity government, saying the Sunni
Tawafuq bloc is still engaged in the political process.
However, if the process failed, he would not "give up and go
home"; instead, he would fight for the interests of the
nation "by other means." He criticized the recent warrant
issued against Muslim Scholars Association head Harith
Al-Dari, claiming that it was intended to act as a
distraction from the recent Ministry of Education kidnapping
scandal. Hashimi expressed willingness to participate in an
Iraqi political leadership meeting to address outstanding
national reconciliation issues. He highlighted deteriorating
security and the need for the GOI to consult more closely
with Sunnis leaders on GOI decisions - especially security
related - as his top priorities for the meeting. End Summary.

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WHERE ARE THE GULF COUNTRIES?
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2. (C) Hashimi said that his recent tour of the Gulf states
was busy but inconclusive. Hashimi had looked forward to
neighboring states and other Arab states playing a more
active role in Iraq, but he and other Iraqi Sunnis were
disappointed in their hesitance and seeming lack of
direction. Hashimi said that he gave a speech before Arab
ambassadors in Qatar where he briefed on economic and
political issues and national reconciliation and encouraged
them to open embassies in Iraq and become more involved.

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NO SUNNI WITHDRAWAL YET
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3. (C) The Charge raised the issue of VP Hashimi's November
7 Al Jazeera interview in which he threatened that the Sunni
Tawafuq bloc would have no choice but to withdraw from the
political process and take up arms if the security situation
continued to deteriorate. VP Hashimi responded defensively,
pointing out that Sunni political figures feel pressure from
two directions: the government that continues to marginalize
them on one hand, and the Sunni constituencies who feel their
elected leadership has failed them on the other. Hashimi
said that in subsequent statements he had made it "perfectly
clear" that Tawafuq had not yet given up on the political
process. However, he refused to remain silent in the face of
the deteriorating security situation.


4. (C) Since the fall of Saddam, Hashimi pointed out, his
Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) had chosen the political process as
the means of achieving Sunni interests. However, if this
course failed and Tawafuq was pushed out of the government,
Hashimi said, "I will not go home. I will defend the
interests of my country in any way I can, by fighting if I
have to." He raised the PM's recent statements on
implementing the anti-terrorism law against those who made
statements inciting violence and sedition. He opined that
the Shia want to have it both ways. "They want to say they
have a government of national unity that includes the
Sunnis," he continued, but they "demand that we keep quiet."


5. (C) Hashimi criticized the recent warrant issued Sunni
cleric Harith Al-Dari. He argued that this should not have
been done without consulting the Sunni political leadership.
He argued that publicly targeting people like Al-Dari "made a
hero out of them" and further polarized Iraqi society. In
his view, the warrant was an intentional distraction from the
Ministry of Education kidnapping fiasco and the numerous
kidnapped victims who remain missing.

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HASHIMI READY FOR POLITICAL LEADERSHIP MEETING
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6. (C) Hashimi said he would look forward to the possibility
of a future gathering of political leaders to discuss
outstanding issues of national reconciliation, and noted that
he intended to emphasize the need for closer consultation
with the Sunni community on key security decisions. He noted
that any cabinet reshuffle must include the Ministries of
Defense and Interior, and should be made in consultation with
the Sunnis. Hashimi is unhappy with Minister of Defense
Abdul Qadir, who he believes is not aggressive in addressing
Baghdad's security crisis. The Interior Minister, Hashimi
continued, does not even answer his phone calls. In any

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event, Hashimi continued, more than a cabinet reshuffle is
needed to correct the systemic problems facing the Council of
Ministers.


7. (C) Charge told Hashimi that PM Maliki is equally
concerned. He predicted that Maliki would target a range of
Ministers in the upcoming shuffle, and that he had developed
a selection process whereby each political party that "owned"
a Ministry would be required to present a list of qualified
replacement candidates. The Charge expressed concern that
Sunni DPM Zawbaie was rarely present at Ministerial Council
for National Security (MCNS) meetings and urged Hashimi to
ensure that the Sunni voice was represented at this forum.
It was the USG's hope, the Charge added, that this political
leader's meeting could lead to the development of focused
confidence building measures between both sides that would
ultimately improve communication and cooperation on the
national level. This would pave the way for a unified Iraqi
message to the international community and increased support
for the National Compact project.
SPECKHARD