HEIRS TO SHIA POWER MEET TO DISCUSS REGIONAL SECURITY AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L HILLAH 000136

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 9/10/2016
TAGS: PGOV PINR PINS PREL IZ
SUBJECT: HEIRS TO SHIA POWER MEET TO DISCUSS REGIONAL SECURITY AND
POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITY

CLASSIFIED BY: Charles Hunter, Regional Coordinator, REO Al
Hillah, Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b)


1. (C) Summary: Ammar Al Hakim and Mohamed Ridha Al Sistani,
sons to two of Shia Islam's most important leaders, met on
August 24 to discuss a wide range of issues. The two men spoke
about the continuing problem of militias and how "Public
Committees" might enhance security. Al Sistani voiced his
father's concerns over the initiative. Al Hakim and Al Sistani
went on to speak about the problem of displaced persons in
southern Iraq, the responsibility of the national government in
returning people to their homes and the need for elected
officials to be responsive and responsible to the people of
Iraq. Finally, they touched on the importance of good security
during the upcoming Sha'baniya pilgrimage to Najaf and Karbala.
End summary.

2. (C) On August 24, Ammar Al Hakim, son of SCIRI leader Abdul
Aziz Al Hakim made a call on the home of the Ayatollah Ali Al
Sistani. When Al Hakim arrived his meeting was with Mohamed
Ridha Al Sistani, the Ayatollah's son. The conversation lasted
three hours and was reported by a contact known to SET Najaf.
The meeting commenced with a discussion of the reservations Al
Sistani's father has regarding "Public Committees." (Note:
"Public Committees" are "community watch" organizations created
to patrol neighborhoods in the Southern Provinces. They are made
up of SCIRI loyalists. End note.) According to the younger Al
Sistani, his father believes that it is "the national government
that should have to destroy the militias." He is leery of any
organization that operates outside of the auspices of the
national elected government, according to his son.

3. (C) The problem of displaced persons has long been a subject
of consternation for Ayatollah Sistani, allowed his son. "The
national government should make every possible effort to restore
displaced persons to their homes," Mohamed Ridha Al Sistani said
to Al Hakim. This should be done "without irritating ethnic
sensibilities," noted Al Sistani. This raised the question of
the national government and their efforts on behalf of the Iraqi
people. Speaking for his father, the younger Al Sistani said
that the Ayatollah would recommend to the government that no
Iraqi politician should leave the country for vacation and
"leave the Iraqi people to endure this crisis alone. They should
stay in Iraq and do the bidding of the Iraqi people, because
they were elected to serve, not be served," Mohamed Ridha Al
Sistani quoted his father as saying.

4. (C) The meeting turned, finally, to upcoming religious
holidays. Al Sistani expressed his (and his father's) hope that
pilgrims would visit the Holy Shrines (both in Najaf and
Karbala) during Sha'baniya, the celebration of the births of a
number of the Imam's of Shia Islam; most notably the 12th Imam,
Mahdi. "It is important, " Al Sistani noted, "that pilgrims take
great care to avoid becoming the target of extremists." To this
end, Sistani said that the Hawza would be "watching closely for
the work of national security forces to ensure the safety of the
p8ilgrims." Sistani then said that his father would call on "all
Iraqi Muslims, young and old, to make the Hajj to the holy
shrines in Karbala and Najaf for the Sha'baniya."

5. (C) Comment: Most notable in the meeting of these heirs to
Shia power was the fact that Al Sistani said that his father had
reservations about "Public Committees." It was no doubt Al
Hakim's father, as head of SCIRI, who proposed and implemented
"Public Committees." It is rare that such a wide-reaching
initiative (the program would mobilize throughout south-central
Iraq) would be undertaken without seeking the complete approval
of the Hawza. Security has become a major concern for SCIRI,
though, and with the push for federalism all but certain this
fall, it is of paramount importance to SCIRI that Najaf (the
likely capital of any southern federal state) and its neighbor
provinces appear secure. End comment.

HUNTER