BASRAH COUNCIL MEMBERS ON BUDGET AND SECURITY WOES

C O N F I D E N T I A L BASRAH 000172

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/18/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: BASRAH COUNCIL MEMBERS ON BUDGET AND SECURITY WOES

CLASSIFIED BY: Andrea Gastaldo, Deputy Regional Coordinator, REO
Basrah, DOS.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (C) Summary. On November 14 and 15 the Deputy Regional
Coordinator (DRC) and poloffs met with three close contacts of
the REO who are Basrah Provincial Council members (one from
Iraqi National Accord, one from Fadhillah Party, and one
independent). The three separately voiced concerns over
Baghdad's requirement that unspent 2006 budget allocation be
returned to the Finance Ministry at the end of the calendar
year. They asked for USG intercession to request an extension
for PCs to spend the funds on reconstruction and infrastructure
projects. On security matters and Operation Sinbad, there was a
grudging allowance by the INA and Fadhillah members that
security may have improved in the past few months. The
independent representative stated unequivocally that the level
of violence and intimidation remained the same, regardless of
attempts by the British to bring it under control. End summary.

THE BUDGET


1. (C) November 14 and 15, the DRC and poloffs met with three
Basrah Provincial Council (BPC) members to discuss current
issues in Basrah. Meetings were held with Sayed Khalaf
Shamhood, head of the Basrah office of Iraqi National Accord
(INA),Aquil Talib of Fadillah Party and Dr. Suknah Falak, an
independent Provincial Council member. All three contacts
stressed that the main issue facing the BPC right now is
spending all of the 258 billion Iraqi Dinars allocated to Basrah
from the central government by the end of the calendar year.
All three echoed concerns that the money could not be spent by
the end of year and that an extension was needed in order not to
have to return the money to Baghdad. Both Sayed Khalaf and
Aquil Talib requested USG intercession with the Finance Ministry
to press for an extension on behalf of the BPC. Aquil noted
that many contractors are beginning to stop work on
government-funded projects because they know that if they
continue work after the December 31 deadline, the local
government will not have the funds to pay them.

SECURITY AND OPERATION SINBAD


2. (C) On security issues, the three BPC members offered
different views. Sayed Khalaf provided a more positive view,
saying that the security situation in Basrah has improved in the
past couple of months, due in part to OP Sinbad stabilizing
areas of Basrah where it had already operated. Aquil was more
muted in his support for OP Sinbad but acknowledged that the
reconstruction portion of the operation was having a positive
effect on Basrah. Aquil caveated his praise by adding that the
average person on the street believed OP Sinbad's reconstruction
efforts to be a front for military arrest operations and that
the locals did not believe the operation to have had any
positive effect on security. In contrast, Dr. Suknah was blunt
in her belief that security in Basrah has not improved since
Prime Minister Maliki's visit in June. Since then, she stated,
assassinations continued to remain the biggest problem in Basrah
and the situation remains unchanged.


3. (C) Comment: Although the three BPC members voiced concerns
about spending their budget allotment, none of them proposed any
alternatives as either political party members or as a
governmental body to try to remedy the situation. Effective use
of their funding seems to be beyond their reach and with little
ability to come up with projects that can be completed quickly,
the budget problem is likely to continue when the 2007 funds are
released. For the BPC, the security situation remains an area
where they are willing to continually step back and allow others
(i.e. Coalition Forces) to take the lead and to directly address
remedial actions. As the BPC continues to dither, Basrah
residents will lose out on funding for infrastructure projects
and will continue to live in dismal security conditions, waiting
unhappily for the British to hand over a solution. End comment.

RUBINO