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

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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:

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- 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