BASRAH GOVERNOR WANTS POLICE CHIEF OUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L BASRAH 000076

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 5/15/2016
TAGS: PGOV KDEM KJUS IZ
SUBJECT: BASRAH GOVERNOR WANTS POLICE CHIEF OUT

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


1. (U) On May 13, the Governor of Basrah, Mohammed al-Wa'eli
declared in a press conference that he was suspending the Chief
of Police, Hassan Sawadi Assad, because of his failure to
improve the deteriorating security situation. In a flyer
distributed the same evening throughout Basrah, the Governor
said that he intended to suspend the Chief of Police and demand
the resignation of the Commander of the Iraqi Army's 10th
Brigade (based in Basrah),General Abdul Latief Thuaban.


2. (SBU) A local embassy employee on May 14 confirmed that the
Governor had had the flyer distributed and stood behind
everything it said. Furthermore, the Governor stated that he
would present the issue of the suspension of the Chief of Police
to the Basrah Provincial Council (BPC) for a decision at its
next meeting. In a telephone call to Deputy Provincial Council
Chairman Nussaif Jassim, he confirmed that the BPC would discuss
the issue at its meeting on May 17.


3. (C) In a separate meeting on May 14, BPC member Dr. Hamid
al-Thalmi told the Regional Coordinator (RC) that a vote had
been taken almost four months ago to remove Sawadi from office
and had received the necessary two-thirds majority. Dr. Hamid
said that the decision to remove Sawadi must be submitted to the
Ministry of Interior (MoI) along with potential three candidates
to fill the job. According to Dr. Hamid, the BPC has not been
able to agree on replacement candidates. Deputy BPC Chairman
Nussaif told Regional Embassy Office staff in a subsequent phone
call that there have been no viable candidates for the position.
Nussaif stated that the BPC had been looking at people who were
either too old or too inexperienced. The Chief of Police on May
13 denied that he is being removed from his position and said
that the Governor would have no right to do so.


4. (C) Comment: Rumors regarding the imminent demise of the
Chief of Police have been floating around for several months.
However, this latest move by the Governor against Sawadi is the
most serious one to date. Although the Governor is also
demanding the resignation of General Abdul Latief Thuaban, he
does not have the authority to remove the general. During the
last month, the Governor has come under pressure from other
groups to vote him out of office because of his lackadaisical
attitude towards redressing serious security concerns. As a
result, he is eager to show that he is taking decisive action to
manage the deteriorating security situation in Basrah, and he
had chosen Sawadi as his scapegoat. Most observers in Basrah
believe the Governor's ploy to place blame on Sawadi for the
chaotic security situation will be seen solely as an attempt to
deflect attention away the Governor. End comment.

GROSS