Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06HILLAH146
2006-10-11 15:38:00
CONFIDENTIAL
REO Hillah
Cable title:  

BABIL GOVERNOR PLAYING A NEW GAME OR JUST BLUFFING?

Tags:  PREL PINS PGOV IZ 
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VZCZCXRO5974
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK
DE RUEHIHL #0146/01 2841538
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 111538Z OCT 06
FM REO HILLAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0719
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0706
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHIHL/REO HILLAH 0773
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HILLAH 000146 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/11/2016
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV IZ
SUBJECT: BABIL GOVERNOR PLAYING A NEW GAME OR JUST BLUFFING?

REF: A) HILLAH 86 B) HILLAH 103 C) HILLAH 117 D) HILLAH 128

HILLAH 00000146 001.2 OF 002


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



C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HILLAH 000146

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/11/2016
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV IZ
SUBJECT: BABIL GOVERNOR PLAYING A NEW GAME OR JUST BLUFFING?

REF: A) HILLAH 86 B) HILLAH 103 C) HILLAH 117 D) HILLAH 128

HILLAH 00000146 001.2 OF 002


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




1. (C) Summary: The governor of Babil province has shown
uncharacteristic willingness to engage with the Regional Embassy
Office (REO) during the month of Ramadan, chairing a lengthy
meeting to discuss projects, attending the REO's iftar and
meeting with REO representatives at his office. Though
skeptical of any permanent change away from his more usual
pricklish - if not downright anti-American - attitude, REO staff
will continue seeking opportunities to engage him, especially on
governance and security issues. End summary.


2. (C) During a little more than eighteen months in office, the
governor of Babil province, Salem Saleh Mehdi Al-Muslimawi, has
generally kept his distance from USG representatives. A major
irritant in the relationship has been his repeated attempts with
the provincial council to oust pro-U.S. Babil police chief MG
Qais Hamza Abboud Al-Ma'mouri (reftels),who has made himself a
target by refusing to bow to partisan or sectarian pressures in
doing his job. Typically the governor has sent his deputy to
events or meetings hosted by the Provincial Reconstruction Team
(PRT) or the REO. When he has shown up himself, he has not been
above leaving abruptly to mark his disdain for the Americans
"occupying his province."

--------------
TURNING UP FOR EVENTS
--------------


3. (C) Since the start of Ramadan, however, the governor has
seemed more willing to spend time with USG officials. (Note:
Shortly before the start of Ramadan, Al-Muslimawi also attended
a joint security meeting in Baghdad with MND-B MG Thurman for
the first time in several months. End note.) He arrived a few
minutes late but stayed for and led the entire three-hour
meeting of the Sept. 27 Provincial Reconstruction Development
Committee, a group he nominally chairs. Unlike on previous
occasions, and despite being only a few days into the month of
fasting, he actively participated in the discussion,

demonstrated interest in all parts of the province and pledged
his assistance to several key programs. A week later he arrived
on time with the Provincial Council Chairman and other notables
to take part in breaking the fast at REO al-Hillah's annual
iftar. After standing next to the Regional Coordinator (RC)
throughout the meal, he and the RC walked side by side to wash
their hands and begin socializing with other guests. Later
that week at the REO's weekly security coordination meeting, the
deputy governor expressed the governor's compliments and
appreciation for the iftar invitation.

--------------
MEETING WITH RC
--------------


4. (C) On Oct. 9 Governor Al-Muslimawi met with the RC for over
an hour at the governorate building. Asked for his views on the
province's security and the main threats thereto, Al-Muslimawi
initially spoke in general terms of how Iraq's security is a
fight not merely against a particular group or cell but also
against terrorism affecting all parts of the world. After a
brief -- and not noticeably heartfelt -- paean to American
sacrifices for the sake of his country's protection and freedom,
he asserted that troubles in Babil are not inherently
confessional, given the province's mixed Sunni and Shi'a
population, but rather are due to foreign infiltrators who fuel
tensions between the two groups in a style "reminiscent of Abu
Musab al-Zarqawi."


5. (C) The current security challenges require five lines of
response, he contended, stressing that this objective could be
accomplished only through a combined effort with his "American
friends." His priorities comprised the following:
-- increased citizen awareness of the gravity of the security
issue. The governor stated that he recently hosted a conference
at his home, attended by over 200 imams and tribal leaders, to
discuss the present situation and said that he planned another
conference later in the week. (Comment: The "conference"
apparently was nothing more than an annual "haflat 'aza," held
at the house of the governor's father, the sheikh of the Bani
Musalim clan in Kifl, to mark the death of one of the twelve
Shi'a imams. End comment.)
-- working closely with American forces to prevent any further
growth of negative influences from abroad; here he noted his
desire for the RC to have a "fruitful" and "beneficial" time in
Hillah by taking a major role in such coordination.
-- effectively training the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF)
-- equipping the ISF with adequate weaponry to combat the

HILLAH 00000146 002.2 OF 002


terrorists
-- increasing the number of ISF under the theory that "Iraqis
should be everywhere that the 'problem' exists."


6. (C) The RC responded that it would be important for the
governor to be a leader in speaking out publicly against
militias and violence and praising honest, professional work by
the ISF. Also vital is to ensure that sufficient numbers of
Sunnis are recruited into the police force and trained.
Al-Muslimawi impassively heard out specific requests on security
for the central Babil courthouse and a water pipe repair effort,
faintly nodding assent to look into them. At this point the
day's fast was clearly taking its toll, but the governor
expressed at least grudging interest in the idea of creating a
provincial solid waste management program based on a municipal
plan just getting started in Al-Hillah. He also made mention of
his recent trip to Pakistan in search of foreign investment and
said that he would travel for the same purpose to Iran, Kuwait
and South Korea following the 'Eid Al-Fitr. (Note: His
discussions in Pakistan seem to have focused on the manufacture
of water and sewer pipes, and he stated that a delegation from
Pakistan is visiting Al-Hillah this week. End note.)

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


7. (C) The governor is unlikely to have changed his spots
completely. A REO local national who attended the Oct. 9
meeting and has extensive experience with Al-Muslimawi judged
the latter's comportment "fake," with the real one being
critical of the U.S. to the point of rudeness. Be that as it
may, the REO will stay engaged with him regularly on policy and
programmatic matters. The next Babil PRDC, scheduled for
October 25, will be an indication of whether the governor's
seeming openness during Ramadan will extend beyond the end of
that "generous" month. End comment.

--------------
BIO NOTE
--------------


8. (C) Prior to becoming the Governor of Babil in March 2005,
Salem Saleh Medhi Al-Muslimawi served as the senior Supreme
Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) representative in
Babil. Born in 1957 in Kifl, in the province's southwest
corner, he fled to Iran under Saddam's regime and lived there
for 22 years. He speaks fluent Farsi, is married to an Iranian
national and has six children (five boys and a girl) ranging in
age from mid-twenties to five years old. He claims to have
received a degree in Islamic Theology from the International
Islamic School in Iran in 2002. In reality he did not complete
elementary school and for this reason is widely viewed as
unqualified for his current position. Probably out of
embarrassment over his limited schooling, he does not share many
Iraqis' habit of inquiring about an interlocutor's education.
HUNTER