GROUPS OUTSIDE SHIA COALITION START WORK ON

S E C R E T BAGHDAD 000544 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/20/2016 TAGS: PGOV KDEM IZ SUBJECT: GROUPS OUTSIDE SHIA COALITION START WORK ON ALTERNATIVE PLATFORM Classified By: Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). ¶1. (S) In an evening meeting on February 20 at President Talabani's residence, leaders of the Kurdistan Alliance, Tawafuq Front, and the Allawi list agreed to accelerate the government formation process and to calm the tense Iraqi public. Ambassador attended the meeting, which included a readout by Kurdistan President Masud Barzani on that day's meeting with Hakim. The meeting ended with agreement on a four-point agenda: -- ONE: Talabani will issue a presidential statement urging restraint by the Iraqi security services and a halt to night-time raids without judicial orders. -- TWO: Representatives of all three lists will meet at Ayad Allawi's house February 21 to draft a detailed version of the Salah al-Din Principles suitable for airing to the public as the platform of a National Salvation Front. -- THREE: The Kurdistan Alliance will demand that all future negotiating sessions with the Shia coalition include representatives from the Tawafuq and Allawi lists. Kurdish negotiator Mahmud Othman predicted that this demand could end the talks with the Jafari group. -- FOUR: The groups will work to determine a date for convening the Council of Representatives as soon as possible. ¶2. (S) As the meeting closed, all agreed that it is likely that the Kurdistan Alliance ultimately would offer the National Salvation Front as its own initiative and call other sides to join it. The leaders also agreed to intensify discussions over candidates for the key positions in the next government. Talabani explicitly ruled out Adil Abd al-Mehdi as a candidate for the premiership, saying that he believes Mehdi's re-emergence would cause the Da'wa Party and Sadrists to think the National Salvation Front is nothing more than a plot to reverse the Shia coalition vote. KHALILZAD