ADNAN DULAYMI'S GUARDS IN POLICE CUSTODY

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 004451 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/04/2016 TAGS: PHUM PTER IZ SUBJECT: ADNAN DULAYMI'S GUARDS IN POLICE CUSTODY Classified By: Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Margaret Scobey for reaso ns 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Emboffs have received numerous reports from the mixed Sunni-Shia Al-Adil neighborhood, where Sunni Tawafuq bloc leader Adnan Dulaymi is based, of anti-Shia harassment and violent acts attributed to Dulaymi's security detail. In a controversial twist, nine of Dulaymi's bodyguards were arrested on November 15, allegedly for involvement in murders. Dulaymi informed the Embassy he believed his guards were being tortured to gain information that would be used to smear his reputation and target him for assassination (septel). Numerous families have reportedly flocked to the Qadimiya neighborhood detention facility to file testimonies against the nine detainees and to demand justice. On December 2, the headquarters of Dulaymi's Iraqi People's Council party in Adil were reportedly shelled with mortars, directly after a neighborhood meeting held by Dulaymi to discuss the recent violence. End Summary. -------------- DULAIMI: THE SHIA ARE TARGETING ME -------------- ¶2. (C) On November 23, Dulaymi informed the Embassy that nine members of his security detail had been detained by Ministry of Interior (MoI) the previous week. He claimed that they were being tortured in an attempt to extract derogatory information or any other intelligence that would be used to target him politically and possibly threaten his life (septel). Hardline Shia news website Al Buratha published pictures of the nine detainees in custody, calling them "insurgents" and accusing them of using official government property and ID badges to carry out crimes. Sunni political figures such as VP Tariq Al-Hashimi and DPM Salam Al-Zawbaie have highlighted the arrest as an injustice and weighed in with MoI for the guards' release. (Note: In what may be tacit recognition that some of his guards may have been involved in foul play, Dulaymi did not ask the Embassy to intervene in their release, but rather to ensure that they were treated in a humane way and that the investigation into their alleged crimes not be politicized. End note.) -------------- DULAYMI'S GUARDS: GOONS OR PROTECTORS? -------------- ¶3. (C) In a phone conversation on November 27, Mansour District Council (DAC) Member Ali Sheya (Shia Arab) alleged that Dulaymi's bodyguards were threatening Shia residents of the al-Adel sub-district, warning them to leave their homes. Sheya said that the bodyguards were going through streets with loudspeakers, and in some cases actually knocking on doors of Shia residents, threatening them into leaving. Al-Adil is one of the few Shia-Sunni mixed sectors of Baghdad, and is located in Mansour District in Western Baghdad. Adil is where Adnan Dulaymi resides and maintains his Iraqi People's Conference headquarters. ¶4. (C) Neighborhood Advisory Council member Ali Aziz (Shia Arab) repeated these concerns about Dulaymi's guards in a separate conversation with poloff November 27. He said Shia residents had come to him complaining about what they believed to be Dulaymi-led efforts to displace them, accusing Dulaymi and his guards of harassment on the street and of knocking on their doors and threatening them. ¶5. (C) In a meeting with poloff November 30, Sunni District Council Member, Jabr Shabil (himself a member of the Dulaymi tribe) was hesitant to talk specific behaviors of guards associated with Dulaymi. He would not deny allegations against the guards; instead he indicated that it was true that guards of political party members were very aggressive in protecting their principal, in some cases causing injury. ¶6. (C) Allegations against Dulaymi and his guards have reached the gossip circles of Parliamentarians. During a November 23 CoR session, Jalal Eddin Al-Sagheer said Al-Adil neighborhood and neighboring Al-Jamea had become the "target of the day" for terrorists - an indirect reference to Dulaymi's security detail. Council of Representative member Alia Nasif al-Ubaidi (Iraqiyia, Shia Arab) claimed November 29 that it was well known that various politicians were intent in carving out their territory in Baghdad. He said it was "common-knowledge" that Dulaymi was focusing his efforts on the al-Adil sub district, even to the point of employing aggressive tactics against Shia to homogenize his area and strengthen its Sunni identity. ¶7. (C) During a November 30 detention facility inspection carried out by a US Embassy-MNF-I team, MoI interrogators told Emboffs that family members had signed testimonies alleging that the detainees had in fact killed their family members. ¶8. (C) Comment: A number of residents believe that Dulaymi and his guards are involved in forced displacement and other violent activities. However, some of their complaints and the publicity surrounding the guards' arrest may be politically motivated. Based on complaints from Dulaymi about treatment of the nine in custody, EmbOffs and an investigative team visited the detainees on November 30; septel will address issues related to their custody. Either way, these recent reports point to heightened cross-sectarian tensions in al Adel neighborhood, which can ignite if left unchecked. On December 2, after a meeting Dulaymi reportedly held with Sunni and Shia residents to discuss the security situation in the neighborhood, four mortars and several missiles hit targets close to the IPC headquarters, causing significant damage to mosques and residential buildings, and killing two people and wounding a third. End comment. Khalilzad