MASHHADANI UPDATES AMBASSADOR ON HIS NATIONAL BLOC

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 004552 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/13/2016 TAGS: PGOV KDEM IZ SUBJECT: MASHHADANI UPDATES AMBASSADOR ON HIS NATIONAL BLOC PROPOSAL AND URGES DIRECT CONTACT WITH RESISTANCE Classified By: Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (S) SUMMARY. Council of Representatives (CoR) Speaker Mahmoud Mashhadani told the Ambassador December 11 that approximately 100 CoR members are in agreement with the National Bloc proposal he presented to the CoR December 5. He said the National Bloc could be in formal opposition to the moderate front parties and act as a strong opposition to hold them accountable. At the same time, the Speaker said it is necessary to start a dialogue with the resistance directly and not through Sunni politicians like Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi. Fellow attendee and CoR member Nada al-Jeboori (Hewar) expressed her support for a large international conference with the United Nations, saying the resistance groups may accept to talk under the UN umbrella. END SUMMARY -------------- -------------- Speaker's National Bloc To Act as "Opposition" to Moderate Front -------------- -------------- ¶2. (S) Council of Representatives (CoR) Speaker Mahmoud Mashhadani told the Ambassador December 11 that approximately 100 CoR members are in agreement with his National Bloc proposal, mainly from the Sadrists, Fadhila, Hewar, and Iraqiyya. (NOTE: On December 5, the Speaker announced to the CoR that he wanted to form a National Bloc inside the CoR to find and adopt solutions for Iraq's problems. END NOTE). He said all of the blocs are represented except the Kurdish Alliance, SCIRI, IIP, and part of Dawa. He said the National Bloc could be in formal opposition to the moderate front parties and act as a strong opposition to hold them accountable. -------------- -------------- Complains about Hashimi; Wants Dialogue with Resistance -------------- -------------- ¶3. (S) The Speaker complained that the USG concentrates only on fellow Tawafuq member Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi. Mashhadani added that the USG had chosen the wrong man, saying that the trust of the resistance is with him. He claimed that if the USG gave USD 1 billion to the resistance, it would kill all of the al-Qaida Iraq (AQI) within two weeks. He stated that the resistance must be made strong to fight the AQI. The Speaker said VP al-Hashimi had met December 9 with Tawafuq members and the resistance to ask what he could do in Washington. The Speaker said the correct answer is to start dialogue with the resistance directly and not through Sunni politicians. He added that politicians could have at one point acted as middlemen with the resistance, but not anymore. -------------- -------------- Support for Nat'l Salvation Front and UN Conference -------------- -------------- ¶4. (S) CoR member Nada al-Jeboori (Hewar) told the Ambassador that there is no security in the Baghdad neighborhoods of Adhamiya or Hurriya and compared the areas to the "day after." She alleged that there is documentation that the Iraqi Police kill people, and that most victims of violence are Sunni. She said one-third of her classmates from primary school in Adhamiya are now dead. She said she is working on the National Salvation Front, adding that there are millions of Iraqis in Jordan and Syria. "We need to protect them in Iraq or give them a share of oil." She claimed that some of the Iraqis outside the government have the ability to protect the government and the Iraqi people. She recommended that the GOI take back one-third of the previous army. Al-Jeboori also expressed her support for a large international conference with the United Nations, saying the resistance groups may accept talks under the United Nations (UN) umbrella. -------------- PCNS to Discuss De-Ba'athification Reform -------------- ¶5. (S) The Ambassador told Mashhadani that the Policy Committee on National Security (PCNS) would review the De-Ba'athification law that same evening and asked for his support for the proposed reforms that will lead to reconciliation. -------------- Council of Representatives (CoR) Update -------------- ¶6. (S) The Speaker told the Ambassador that the CoR took BAGHDAD 00004552 002 OF 002 advantage of quorum December 10 to declare the session open until all laws (including the 2007 budget) are complete. He added that the CoR needs to hold all of its absent members accountable and suspend their budgetary allocations until they attend or their absences are excused. KHALILZAD