THE BASRAH ASHURA COUNCIL - AN AL-MUSAWI INITIATIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BASRAH 000151 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 9/18/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR IZ SUBJECT: THE BASRAH ASHURA COUNCIL - AN AL-MUSAWI INITIATIVE REF: (A) BASRAH 136 (B) BASRAH 125 (C) BASRAH 49 BASRAH 00000151 001.2 OF 002 CLASSIFIED BY: Ken Gross, Regional Coordinator, REO Basrah, Department of State. REASON: 1.4 (b) ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On September 11, the Regional Coordinator (RC) met with Sayed Abdul Ali al-Musawi to discuss the Ashura Council he recently formed to advise and support the local government. The Ashura Council is inclusive of all religious, political and tribal groups as well as women, academics and technocrats and will use consensus to recommend solutions to important problems. The council has yet to establish its internal laws and procedures, but the 135-member executive committee will discuss and implement them by the end of September. Although the council's creation ruffled the feathers of the Governor and some of the provincial council members, Sayed Abdul Ali said that the Ashura Council has no political ambitions. Sayed Abdul Ali's family controls the Musawi Group, nine companies run by various members of the family. Sayed Abdul Ali's father is the spiritual leader of the al-Shakheyah sect of Shia Islam, which lends more credibility and respect to the family. End summary. THE POWER TO FORM AN ASHURA COUNCIL ¶2. (SBU) On September 11, the RC and poloff met with close REO contact Sayed Abdul Ali al-Musawi, the influential son of Shakheyah spiritual leader Sayed Ali al-Musawi, to discuss his newly formed Ashura Council. This initiative began when Sayed Abdul Ali invited 500 people on August 13 to meet at his Grand Mosque in Basrah to discuss the formation of an Ashura Council. The aim of the Council is to discuss and present suggested solutions to the local government for many of the problems Basrah is experiencing. The genesis of the Ashura Council stems from community leaders' concerns over security that prompted the signing of a document calling for support for the rule of law in Basrah on July 15 (Ref B). ¶3. (SBU) In late August the Ashura Council nominated a 135-person executive committee to lead it. Sayed Abdul Ali stressed that the executive committee is designed to be inclusive in nature - it is comprised of Sunnis, Shias, women, technocrats, academics, religious and tribal leaders and representatives from most of the political parties in Basrah. The Council's internal governing rules will be adopted after the executive committee meets near the end of September. Sayed Abdul Ali said he envisions the Council playing both an advisory and oversight role in Basrah. The Council's main function is to be a forum for discussion of important issues, and any solutions would be presented to the local government simply as guidance, but with the knowledge that a broad section of the community supports them. There will be several committees established to discuss and reach consensus on how to resolve discrete problems. ¶4. (C) Sayed Abdul Ali made clear to the RC that the Ashura Council would not be involved in the upcoming provincial elections. Various members of the Council may lend their support to political parties, but the Council itself would not back any party or candidate. When asked if there were any groups in Basrah that were mistrustful of the formation of the Council, Sayed Abdul Ali replied that there were two, the Governor and the Basrah Provincial Council (BPC),and said that both are fearful that the Ashura Council will subvert their power and influence. According to Sayed Abdul Ali, he assured the Governor and members of the BPC that the Council harbors no political ambitions and only will serve to ensure that the voices of all citizens of Basrah are heard and their interests are looked after. ¶5. (C) The creation of the Ashura Council coincides with the establishment of another group formed to improve the lives of Basrawis, the Gathering to Save Basrah (GSB) (Ref A). Sayed Abdul Ali stated that there is no connection between the two entities, but the Ashura Council would engage in activities to support the goals of the GSB whenever they coincided. (Note: The GSB is more like a regular political party. End Note.) Sayed Abdul Ali said that some community leaders disagree about the inclusiveness of the council - BPC member and moderate cleric Sayed Bahaa Jama al-Deen from the GSB believes that bringing all political parties into the Ashura Council "will give them life." BACKGROUND ON SHAKHEYAH AND MUSAWIS ¶6. (C) Sayed Abdul Ali (and his relatives) not only are influential in spiritual and community matters, but they also wield considerable authority in the business world of Basrah. The Musawi Group in Basrah, owned by the Musawi family, consists of nine companies that employ approximately 1,300 people. The companies include: BASRAH 00000151 002.2 OF 002 - Al Qura -- specializes in engineering, construction and contracts; - Al Salwa United Company -- specializes in trading; - Abr al Sharq Company -- deals in marine services and water technology; - Alghadeer Company -- specializes in printing and publishing; - Fadak Company -- deals with agriculture and animal production; - Al Nnaba' Company -- provides Internet, communication and computer services; - Al Sadeed Company -- provides tourism, travel and general transportation services; - Al Zaitoon Company -- is involved in the oil industry and - The al-Musawi Hospital -- is a private and best equipped hospital in Basrah. Members of the family individually manage the various companies, and there is no central decision making. According to Hamid al-Musawi, who acts as sole or co-director of four of the nine companies, the construction business is the most prosperous with housing comprising the bulk of its work in Basrah. ¶7. (C) The Musawi family is a highly regarded and respected family in Basrah (Ref C). Sayed Ali al-Musawi, the family's patriarch, is the spiritual leader of the al-Shakheyah minority sect of Shia Islam. Upon his death, Sayed Abdul Ali will become the sect's spiritual leader. The family traces its origins to the al-Ahsa' region of Saudi Arabia and migrated to Basrah to escape religious oppression over 1,000 years ago. Both Sayed Ali and Sayed Abdul Ali completed their religious studies in Kerman, Iran. Following the Iranian revolution, the al-Shakheyah school in Kerman was burned and their former leader was killed in 1980 and Sayed Ali became the next spiritual leader. The sect has minor philosophical differences with the rest of Shia Islam, the main one being their belief that there should be no religious involvement in government. COMMENT ¶8. (C) Comment: Sayed Abdul Ali is a very close REO contact and is biased towards the Coalition Forces. The Ashura Council, though still in its early stages, could provide a mechanism to involve the community in problem solving and as a prod to the local government to do its job. The moribund Basrah Provincial Council and the corrupt governor need to be spurred to act responsibly, and if the Ashura Council manages to avoid being dominated by the political parties, it may be just the stimulus needed. The usually gentle-speaking Sayed Abdul Ali accurately referred to the Basrah Provincial Council as "animals, like sharks and crocodiles," and he has no illusions as to how difficult it will prove to institute positive political change. Together with the Gathering to Save Basrah, both groups are examples of the prominent citizens of Basrah reaching the end of their tolerance of local politicians and offer hope for the future of Basrah . End comment. GROSS