A CASUAL COMEDY: SOUTH CENTRAL PROVINCIAL COUNCILS THREATEN

C O N F I D E N T I A L HILLAH 000110

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

BAGHDAD FOR NCT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/24/2016
TAGS: PGOV KISL KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: A CASUAL COMEDY: SOUTH CENTRAL PROVINCIAL COUNCILS THREATEN
TO SUSPEND RELATIONS WITH COALITION FORCES


CLASSIFIED BY: Alfred Fonteneau, Regional Coordinator, REO
Hillah, Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b)


1. (U) This is a Babil PRT Cable


2. (C) SUMMARY. During a June 23 meeting held in Najaf,
representatives from all south-central provincial councils (PC),
as well as from Baghdad and Kirkuk, held an "emergency" meeting
concerning the arrest of Karbala Provincial Council Chair Aqeel
Fahim Al-Zubidy. On June 15 U.S. and Iraqi military forces
arrested Al-Zubidy at his home for planning and carrying out
attacks and assassinations against Iraqi civilians and Coalition
Forces (CF). Al-Zubidy, now in U.S. military custody, has
confessed to these crimes including the murder of six U.S.
soldiers over the past three years. Local politicians,
including the Karbala PC, however, insist that Al-Zubidy is
innocent and that his detention is illegal. The incident has
generated such discontent amongst local governments in
south-central that the Karbala PC ultimately called for an
emergence meeting to be held in Najaf. The participants, in the
meeting held on June 23, issued a statement that calls for the
suspension of relations with CF and suggests that the Government
of Iraqi (GOI) grant local officials diplomatic immunity. END
SUMMARY.


3. (SBU) Begin informal translation of text:

Against the background of the arrest of Mr. Aqeel Fahim
Al-Zubidy, the Chairman of the Karbala Provincial Council, and
due to the repeated assaults by occupation forces against the
great innocent citizens of Iraq and under the slogan of one
voice for local governments to defend all rights, freedom and
ostracizing terror, also in a climate that is charged with
denunciation and condemning the innocents above, delegations
from the provincial councils and governors discussed and issued
the following resolutions:

- Call for a general strike of all official and government
departments on Wednesday and Thursday in all provinces.

- Give the occupation forces seven days from this meeting date
to release Mr. Aqeel Fahim Al-Zubidy or all relations will be
frozen with occupation forces in all provinces.

- Submit a proposal for diplomatic immunity for all local
elected government officials (governors and PC members) to the
Council of Representatives (CoR). This will provide stability
to local governments so that they can perform their duties in
accordance with legislation.

- Authorize the Karbala PC to form a delegation to represent all
Provincial Councils in Iraq to meet with Iraqi and international
officials to explain the aggression against Karbala.

- Demand that the Iraqi government detach all special forces and
intelligence agencies from the occupation forces and make them
Iraqi organizations under the authority of the Iraqi government
exclusively. Demand that the Iraqi Government rearrange their
present structure.

Conference of Iraqi Provincial Councils
Emergence Meeting, June 23, 2006
Holy Karbala

Provinces represented: Baghdad, Basra, Diyalla, Wasit, Dhi Qar,
Diwaniyah, Najaf, Kirkuk, Babil, and Karbala


4. (C) COMMENT. The arrest of Al-Zubidy struck a rather
sensitive nerve, as this is the first time that all
south-central provinces have come together and issued a direct
statement against CF. Local contacts seem to believe that this
declaration is little more than grandiose posturing intended to
galvanize the population for the upcoming local and provincial
elections. Most local contacts have also related that such
grandstanding has little actual substance and suggest that the
PCs will not actually carry out their threat. However, it is
equally as likely that the PCs of south-central are rallying
behind Al-Zubidy because they fear that they could be next. If
this is true, the final salvo in the casual comedy of suspending
relations with CF, may in fact, have come to and end. This
unfortunate possibility may well indicate that the PC members of
south-central are much more actively involved in anti-Coalition
activities than we would like to believe. END COMMENT.

FONTENEAU