NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED: BABIL POLICE CHIEF UNDER FIRE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 HILLAH 000103

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

BAGHDAD FOR NCT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/12/2016
TAGS: PGOV KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED: BABIL POLICE CHIEF UNDER FIRE
FOR RESCUING GOVERNOR

REF: A) HILLAH 80 B) HILLAH 82 C) HILLAH 85 D) HILLAH 93 E) HILLAH 99

HILLAH 00000103 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Douglas Meurs, Deputy Regional Coordinator, REO
Hillah, Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (U) This is a Babil PRT Cable.


2. (S) SUMMARY: Babil Police Chief General Qais Hamza Aboud
Al-Momouri has yet again come under political fire from the
Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI)
affiliated Babil Provincial Governor, Salem Saleh Mehdi
Al-Muslimawi. This time Qais has incurred the Governor's wrath
for not saving him from hostile protesters during a June 6
demonstration in south Babil in a "timely fashion." Politically
motivated allegations aside, this recent incident demonstrates
that popular support for the Governor is waning and it may be
more difficult for SCIRI to remove the secular Shi'a Babil
Police Chief than previously imagined. END SUMMARY.


3. (S) On June 6, residents of Al-Qasim, a medium sized city
located in southern Babil, held a demonstration at the town's
main government building, petitioning the mayor and the local
council to make improvements in basic social services and to
administer the equitable distribution of gas and propane.
During the protest, the Governor of Babil, the Chair of the
Provincial Council (PC) and two PC members came under direct
physical assault from the protesters. Ironically, the
provincial political leaders attended the protest under the
misconception that the demonstrators organized the event against
Babil Police Chief General Qais.


4. (S) According to eyewitness accounts, a crowd of
approximately six hundred individuals dissatisfied with
negotiations taking place with the provincial leaders at the
venue, physically attacked and destroyed the Governor's
U.S.-provided armored SUV with rocks and subsequently forced
their way into the municipal building. In retaliation, the
Iraqi Police (IP) guarding the building fired into the crowd,
wounding five civilians. Reports indicate that none of the
civilians were critically injured. The protesters managed to
overpower the police team and trapped the Governor and PC
members inside the building.


5. (S) During the attack, the Governor called Babil Police Chief
General Qais and ordered him to come to the rescue. Qais, with
an Al-Hillah SWAT unit, deployed to Al-Qasim and managed to calm
the crowd. (COMMENT: General Qais met the Governor
approximately four kilometers from Al-Qasim and did not actually
rescue him from the demonstrators. Apparently, the IP commander
on the scene managed to secure the building and expedite the
Governor's escape. END COMMENT). Upon his arrival at Al-Qasim,
the protesters pleaded with Qais to present their demands to the
PC. The General agreed to the request and additionally
commented that corruption in the provincial government is the
direct cause for current gas and propane shortages (reftel E).


6. (C) The SCIRI Governor, who is presently spearheading the
effort to have General Qais removed from office, detailed a
completely different rendition of the events, maintaining that
an armed insurgent group instigated the attack and General Qais
failed to deploy the SWAT team in a timely manner. General
Qais, on the other hand, informed PRT staff that he specifically
warned the Governor and PC Chair on June 5 not to travel to
Al-Qasim as local citizens planned a demonstration. According
to Qais, the PC Chair retorted disdainfully to the advice, "we
intend to walk with our people."


7. (C) A committee from the Ministry of the Interior (MOI)
traveled to Al-Qasim on June 7 to investigate the incident.
According to local contacts, during a meeting between the MOI
committee and the PC, one MOI representative expressed his
complete support for General Qais and chastised the PC members
for allegedly attempting to morph the successful rescue into a
fallacious allegation against the General. The contact further
stated that the committee intended to submit a positive
after-action report to MOI headquarters in Baghdad concerning
the Babil Police Chief's leadership during the clash.


8. (C) The MOI decision to back Qais in line with previous MOI
support for the General has further embroiled Babil political
life. The SCIRI members of the PC, according to Al-Hillah Mayor
Imad Lefta, have prolonged their "suspension" of PC activities
and have closed the provincial municipal building in Al-Hillah,
as they previously threatened to do if the MOI refuses to
endorse their decision to fire General Qais (ref D). Lefta
added that the striking SCIRI members have removed all of their
seals and papers from their offices and intend to "dump them on

HILLAH 00000103 002.2 OF 002


the desk of Prime Minister Maliki" in a demonstration of their
solidarity against the Babil Police Chief.


9. (S) COMMENT: It is highly ironic that General Qais saved the
Governor - someone who is desperately trying to replace him with
a SCIRI party loyalist (ref A, B, C, D). Hopefully the
successful rescue will serve as evidence that despite the PC's
claims, Qais is a professional, dedicated to his mission and
loyal to Iraq. On the other hand, Babil is now effectively
without a legislative branch. Moreover, most local contacts
have voiced that the dim-witted attempt by the Governor to cast
the rescue as a failure will surely backfire. The Chief of
Military Intelligence in Babil commented at the weekly REO
security meeting, "The downfall of a certain individual [e.g.
the Governor] begins this way." Meanwhile, the Governor has
already submitted a request to the REO for a new armored SUV.
END COMMENT.
MEURS