OLDEST MEMBER OF COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 000593

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/23/2016
TAGS: PGOV KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: OLDEST MEMBER OF COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES
CONTEMPLATES CHAIRING FIRST SESSION

Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ROBERT S. FORD, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B)
AND (D).


1. (C) Summary. POLOFF and PolFSN met February 22 with new
Council of Representative (CoR) member Dr. Abd al-Lateef Abd
al-Wahab Hassan al-Bedri. Dr. al-Bedri was the first
candidate on the National Iraqi List (Allawi) slate in
Salahadin. When POLOFF informed him that he appeared to be
the oldest member in the new CoR, Dr. al-Bedri expressed
surprise adding that he thought Dr. Adnan Pachachi was older.
Al-Bedri joked that he would call Pachachi to let him know
(NOTE: Adnan Pachachi was reportedly born in 1923, while
al-Bedri was born in 1922. END NOTE). When told that, as
oldest member, he would preside over the first session of the
CoR until the elections of the Speaker and Deputy Speakers,
al-Bedri asked, "What do you want me to say?" He added that
he did not want to say anything wrong. POLOFF responded that
the TNA Speaker's Office, Dr. Allawi, and other political
leaders would likely be in touch with him before the first
session.


2. (C) Dr. al-Bedri told POLOFF that he was never a Ba'athist
and was not sure why he was initially removed from the
candidate list by the National de-Ba'athification Commission.
(NOTE: Reportedly, the Commission concluded ultimately that
al-Bedri might have been the victim of a case of mistaken
identity and withdrew its objection to his serving in the
legislature.) When asked what CoR committees he would try to
join, al-Bedri said he hoped to be involved with health and
higher education issues.


3. (C) Al-Bedri said he was one of Allawi's professors in the
1960's, and their relationship has continued uninterrupted
since then. He told POLOFF that he had believed "with all of
his heart" that Allawi would do well in the December
elections. When asked why Allawi only won 25 seats, he said
the election was not honest, mentioning multiple voting,
polling station fraud, and shortcomings of the IECI. POLOFF
said that the International Mission for Iraqi Elections had
reviewed the election results, but did not find evidence of
massive fraud.


4. (C) When asked about the security situation, Dr. al-Bedri
said that the situation will get better if extrajudicial
killings stop. He added that the Minister of Interior should
be replaced, preferably by a Kurd. He said if a Shia is
Minister of Interior, that person would be under the
"influence of the masses".


5. (C) BIONOTE: Dr. Abd al-Lateef Abd al-Wahab Hassan
al-Bedri was born in 1922 in Samarra, Iraq. He went to
college in Baghdad, and completed his post-graduate studies
in the UK and U.S. (Chicago). He returned to Iraq in 1949
and joined the medical college at the University of Baghdad
as a professor of surgery. He was briefly imprisoned in 1958
on political charges. He later served as a Minister of
Health in the government of Prime Minister Abdurrahman
al-Bazzaz (1965-66) and as President of the medical college
from 1971-1972. He was expelled from his position at the
medical college by the Ba'athists in 1975. He moved to the
UAE where he served as a medical advisor until 1980, and then
he went to Jordan, where he served as the dean of the medical
school at the University of Jordan. In 1985, he suffered a
major heart attack. According to Dr. al-Bedri, King Hussein
contacted Saddam Hussein directly and asked for Saddam to let
Dr. al-Bedri return to Iraq to be with his family. He was
allowed to return, but reportedly not permitted to work. In
2003, he returned to the medical college at the University of
Baghdad as a professor of surgery ) many of his former
students are now on the faculty. He will leave his faculty
position once the CoR convenes, but he said he hopes to give
guest lectures from time to time.
KHALILZAD