VEILED HYPOCRISY: BASRAH PROVINCIAL COUNCIL VOTES TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BASRAH 000019

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2/15/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: VEILED HYPOCRISY: BASRAH PROVINCIAL COUNCIL VOTES TO
BOYCOTT BRITS AND DANES

REF: (A) BASRAH 10, (B) BASRAH 12, (C) BASRAH 13, (D) BASRAH 14, (E) BASRAH 15, (F) BASRAH 17, (G) BASRAH 18

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




1. (C) Summary: On February 13, the Basrah Provincial Council
(BPC) unanimously voted to suspend communication and cooperation
with British and Danish officials in Basrah. The decision was
officially issued on February 14 and delivered to the British
and Danish missions in Basrah on February 15. The letter
demands that the Danish government issue an official apology to
all Muslims in the world because of the cartoon scandal, Danish
forces not circulate in Basrah, and the Director of the Danish
Office in Basrah depart within 72 hours if there is no apology.
The letter continues the boycott of the British for the alleged
videotaped abuse of Iraqi youth and the arrest of 11 Iraqi
policemen on January 23. The boycott does not extend to U.S.
officials. This suspension of cooperation with Coalition
partners is likely political maneuvering on the part of the
increasingly dysfunctional BPC to shift attention away from its
own poor performance and to secure the release of the detainees.
End Summary.

Unified Front, Internal Divisions
-------------- --

2. (C) On February 13, the BPC voted officially to suspend
communication and cooperation with British and Danish officials
in Basrah. (See Refs for background on the boycott.) The
boycott, although supported by all BPC members, is spearheaded
by a few extremists on the BPC and by Khazl Jaloob Falih Abu
Salam (Fadillah) in particular. As Basrah Governor Mohammed
Mosabeh Mohammed Al Wa'ili continues to lose support, Abu Salam
has increasingly taken on a leadership role in the Basrah PC.
Moderate Ghali Najam Muter (Iraqi National Accord) initially
supported continuing dialogue with the British and Danish, but
backed down rather than face the ire of other BPC members.

What the Letter Said
--------------


3. (C) The BPC issued an official statement (Number 606, dated
February 14, 2006) in which it declared an official decision
(Number 99, made during BPC session number 61) to impose a
boycott on the Danish forces present in Basrah and to continue
the boycott of the British forces. This letter was delivered to
the Danish and British Offices in Basrah on February 15. A
translation of the letter is as follows:

"First: A boycott with the Danish Forces due to what the Danish
press has printed insulting the Prophet Mohammed. We are asking
the forces not to go in or around the city; also for the
Director of the Danish Regional Embassy Office to depart within
72 hours from the date of this decision's issuance, unless the
Danish Government provides an official apology to all Muslims
around the world.

Second: To continue the boycott with the British Forces because
of their non-compliance with the Council's decision regarding
their random arrests and raids, as well as their insults to our
citizens by the forces on broadcast satellite television.

Third: All sectors/departments will comply with the boycott
with the above-mentioned forces and not cooperate with them for
any reason, unless directed by the Council. In case of
non-compliance with the decision, the Council will do all
necessary procedures to remove the non-complier from their
position of employment."

Danish and British Reactions
-------------- ---


4. (C) The Senior Legal Advisor at the Danish Office in Basrah
told IPAO that he believed the British videotape issue triggered
the boycott against the Danish office. He said that the Danish
office will not attempt to engage BPC members and is deferring
action on the boycott issue to the national level through its
embassy in Baghdad. The current Director of the Danish Office
is outside of Iraq until February 21. Danish Office staff in
Basrah have received no personal physical threats and have no
plans to evacuate. Because of the BPC letter, Danish military
forces are not moving out of their base.


5. (U) The British Consul General issued a televised press
release on February 14 in Basrah in which he made the following
remarks:


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"It is unfortunate that the Provincial Council has decided to
suspend co-operation with us. This will only harm the people of
Basrah. Our work supporting reconstruction and security in
Basrah will continue. However, we will be able to achieve more
with the co-operation of the Provincial Council. The British
forces are here in accordance with the decision of the UN
Security Council and at the request of the Iraqi government. We
are here to support security and reconstruction.

Concerning the video tape which was aired by some satellite
channels of the maltreatment of some Iraqis by a very few
British soldiers, the Prime Minister and the British Government
take this very seriously and the PM has announced that an
immediate and full investigation will take place."

Protestors and Retaliation
-------------- --------------


6. (C) On February 14, about 300 protestors gathered outside
the gate to the British Consulate in Basrah. The protest lasted
about one hour. No one was hurt or injured during the protest,
and police personnel escorted the protestors. Protestors burned
a British flag and chanted that the British should be punished
for their crimes and should leave Iraq. A large red and white
Danish flag has been chalked onto the streets outside the
building of the Office of the Martry Sadr (OMS) political party
in Basrah so that traffic passes over the top of it, an effort
to retaliate against the perceived insult of the Danish cartoons
depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

Little Will to Resolve the Conflict through Dialogue
-------------- --------------
--------------


7. (C) In a February 14 meeting on an unrelated matter, the
Basrah Archbishop Gabriel Kassab told the Basrah Deputy Regional
Coordinator (DRC) that he had last met with Basrah Governor
Mohammed about ten days previously, and that he had advised the
governor that those arrested for attacks on Coalition forces
must be held accountable for their crimes. He said that the
governor had not agreed with him and that he believed the reason
for his disagreement was because the detainees were "his
people." Archbishop Kassab said that he had attempted to
mediate between the members of the BPC advocating a boycott
against the British and Danish and those who wished to continue
dialogue, but that neither side was interested in reaching an
agreement. They only "pretended" to talk to each other.


8. (C) Archbishop Kassab identified Abu Salam as one of the
primary personalities behind the decision to boycott the British
and the Danish. "Now Abu Salam is the Governor," he said,
alluding to the diminishing role of Governor Mohamed as a
political leader in Basrah. The Archbishop looked both ways
before telling the DRC that cursing the presence of the British
and Americans in Basrah has become a way to assert patriotism,
but that everyone secretly likes and supports the Coalition
presence in the south.


9. (C) The Archbishop, whose professional relationship with
the Basrah Governor precedes MNFI engagement and whose survival
in the overwhelmingly Shia south has depended on his adroitness
as a minority figurehead, confessed that he was concerned by the
current in-fighting among the political parties in Basrah. Each
party, he said, is concerned only with its own members, and none
of the parties are directing attention to the needs of the
people. "I would make each person in Basrah a saint," he said,
alluding to the degree of suffering endured by Basrah's
residents while political leaders squabble. When asked if he
thought the Basrah governor would be re-elected, the Archbishop
replied that he had been surprised Mohamed had ever been elected
governor in the first place, so he did not feel comfortable
trying to predict the outcome of the next election.


10. (C) Comment: The Basrah PC has become increasingly
dysfunctional over the past months as political in-fighting
reigns. Its predilection to suspend communication with
Coalition partners and to determine Coalition presence as a
means of achieving its goals is a disturbing trend of a
provincial government usurping national authority. Little
progress has been made by the Reconstruction and Development
Committee on implementing and funding projects, and it is
becoming increasingly likely that the Basrah local government
will not be able to allocate funds, either from the donor
community or from Baghdad, for the benefit of Basrah's residents
before provincial elections. It should come as no surprise that
there appears to be no will to resolve the conflict through
dialogue. The resumption of relations without official apologies
from the British and Danish governments would rob the Basrah

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Provincial Council of a much-needed political victory. The BPC
is using the current political crisis as a means to divert
public attention from its own lack of accomplishments and the
illegal activities of some of its members. The current impasse
is unlikely to be resolved without the active engagement of the
Baghdad government. End comment.
GROSS