BASRAH'S ACTING CHIEF OF POLICE URGES TRAINING TO REFORM THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BASRAH 000143

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 9/5/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR IZ
SUBJECT: BASRAH'S ACTING CHIEF OF POLICE URGES TRAINING TO REFORM THE
POLICE

REF: BASRAH 132

CLASSIFIED BY: Ken Gross, Regional Coordinator, REO Basrah,
Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b)


1. (U) Summary. On September 4, the Regional Coordinator (RC),
Deputy RC and poloff met with Brigadier General Mohammed Hammadi
al-Musawi, Basrah's acting Chief of Police and the brother of
the chairman of the Basrah Security Committee. Although Hammadi
made it clear that he believes he is quite different from his
ineffective predecessor, his plan to rehabilitate the IPS simply
involves retraining the force. End Summary.


2. (C) Brigadier General Hammadi, Basrah's acting Chief of
Police and a native son, met with the RC, DRC, and poloff on
September 4. Hammadi has occupied his position since the
removal of his predecessor on July 16 and has worked for the IPS
in Basrah for the past 18 months. Touting himself as the best
candidate for the top slot, Hammadi decried the inaction of the
former police chief and said he would weed out the corrupt
elements in the IPS and provide training to educate the police
to enable them to perform their responsibilities. Though he
estimated that at least 2,000 of the 15,000 police officers in
Basrah were "bad", Hammadi said that they could be retrained and
taught to be loyal to Iraq. He acknowledged that militias and
political parties exert tremendous influence in the Basrah
police force, but asserted that by removing corrupt commanders
and providing training the force could be cleansed.


3. (C) Hammadi said he currently is focusing his efforts on the
Serious Crimes Unit, a hotbed of militia and criminal activity
within the police. He admitted that he lacked the power to
dismiss individual members, though he has transferred a few.
His plan of action is "to get close to them" and to retrain
them. The nascent Internal Affairs Division, which was recently
reestablished with vetted officers without ties to Basrah, is
not yet fully operational, according to Hammadi. It reports
directly to the Ministry of Interior, though Hammadi said he
performs a "coordination" function.


4. (C) Comment. Hammadi believes that he will be chosen as the
Chief of Police and told the RC that the Basrah Provincial
Council would submit its three nominations to the Ministry of
Interior on September 6. Unfortunately, Hammadi has no concrete
plan for purging or improving the IPS beyond extensive and
prolonged retraining - his belief that the vast majority of the
IPS is salvageable is pure whimsy. Unlike his brother, Major
General Ali Hammadi al-Musawi, the Chairman of the Basrah
Security Committee (Reftel),Hammadi at least professes to have
a plan of action. But retaining most of the criminal elements
in the police and relying upon "training" to induce them to
become better citizens and police officers is a recipe for a
continued dysfunctional and criminal IPS in Basrah. End comment.

GROSS