Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06HILLAH32
2006-02-28 16:24:00
CONFIDENTIAL
REO Hillah
Cable title:
NAJAF COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES MEMBERS' BIOGRAPHICAL
how-toVZCZCXRO1931 PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHMOS DE RUEHIHL #0032/01 0591624 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 281624Z FEB 06 FM REO HILLAH TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0560 INFO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0545 RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE RUEHIHL/REO HILLAH 0607
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HILLAH 000032
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2/28/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KISL IZ
SUBJECT: NAJAF COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES MEMBERS' BIOGRAPHICAL
INFORMATION
HILLAH 00000032 001.2 OF 002
CLASSIFIED BY: Alfred Fonteneau, RC, REO Al Hillah, Department
of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HILLAH 000032
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2/28/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KISL IZ
SUBJECT: NAJAF COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES MEMBERS' BIOGRAPHICAL
INFORMATION
HILLAH 00000032 001.2 OF 002
CLASSIFIED BY: Alfred Fonteneau, RC, REO Al Hillah, Department
of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)
1. (U) This is a SET Najaf Cable.
2. (U) Najaf Province was allocated eight seats in the recently
elected Council of Representatives (CoR). The United Iraqi
Alliance (UIA) won seven of the eight seats. The eighth Najaf
seat went to a candidate from the Iyad Allawi-affiliated
National Iraqi List (NIL). Biographical information follows for
five of the eight representatives.
3. (U) Candidates who ran on the first, second and fourth
positions on the UIA slate from Najaf Province are based in
Baghdad and are not known by SET Najaf local staff and contacts.
The first is Haider Saeed Ismael. The second Najaf UIA
representative is Qassim Daoud, former National Security Advisor
under ex-Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. The fourth is Bassem Jassem
Noor.
JINAN JASSEM MOHAMMED ALI
--------------
4. (SBU) The third UIA representative, and first female, is
Jinan Jassem Mohammed Ali. Ali was born in Najaf in
approximately 1968. She has been a member of the Supreme Council
for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) since 1987. Several
of her cousins were executed during the 1991 Shi'a uprising. Ali
is married to a man known to have strong connections to powerful
Najaf clerics, and she has one child. She has degrees in
medicine from the Kufa University College of Medicine and the
University of Baghdad. A Provincial Council member in 2004, Ali
runs her own clinic and has been active in women's rights, in
the SCIRI women's office, and as a columnist in local
newspapers.
5. (C) Ali has met regularly with SET Najaf since her tenure on
the Najaf Provincial Council and met recently with a visiting
British diplomat. She has been cooperative and friendly during
these meetings, has avoided criticizing the U.S. and Coalition
Forces in public appearances and can be considered to have a
generally favorable impression of the U.S.
LIQAA JAAFER MUNTADHER AL-YASEEN
--------------
6. (SBU) Liqaa Jaafer Muntadher Al-Yasseen is the fifth UIA
representative elected from Najaf. Born in 1967 in Najaf,
Al-Yasseen is married and has two children. She is a Sadrist and
currently serves as the Director General of the Najaf Maternity
Hospital. She earned a degree in medicine from the University of
Baghdad in 1990. She earned an additional degree in gynecology
in 1996. Al-Yasseen has run a private clinic and previously
worked for the Najaf Department of Health from 2003 until 2005.
7. (C) Al-Yasseen has met with SET Najaf occasionally as part of
her duties as a Department of Health official. She worked with
SET Najaf, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officers and other
Coalition Forces officers during the U.S.-funded renovation of
the Najaf maternity and teaching hospitals, and because of this
can be considered to have a more favorable view of the U.S.
presence in Iraq than many of her fellow Sadrists.
QAIS SAAD HASSAN AL-AMEERI
--------------
8. (SBU) Qais Saad Hassan was elected to the CoR from the sixth
position on the UIA slate. Born in Najaf in 1972, Al-Ameeri is
married and has three children. His wife is the daughter of one
of the leaders of the Bani Hassan tribe. He has a 2003
bachelor's degree in law from Babil University, where he studied
at night. Al-Ameeri is an independent Shi'a Islamist loosely
affiliated with the gathering led by Hussein Al-Shahristani. In
the January 2005 elections, he worked with Hamed Al-Khafaf, an
aide to Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani. Al-Ameeri maintains a
private law office in Najaf and is active in the Kufa courts. He
is active in Najaf human rights and non-governmental
organization (NGO) circles.
9. (C) Al-Ameeri has not met with SET Najaf but has
relationships with many of SET Najaf's contacts in the Najaf
human rights advocacy and NGO community. He is believed to have
moderate views of the U.S. because of U.S. support for human
rights and NGOs.
NASSAR SAGHEER DORBI
--------------
HILLAH 00000032 002.2 OF 002
10. (SBU) Nassar Sagheer Dorbi was elected to the CoR from the
seventh position on the Najaf UIA slate. Dorbi was born in 1965
in Baghdad's Sadr City, where his father ran a grocery store. He
moved to Kufa, Najaf Province, in 1990. Dorbi is married and his
wife is a veterinarian. He earned a bachelor's degree in
veterinary medicine from University of Mosul in approximately
1988. He is a moderate Sadrist whose affiliation began following
the assassination of Mohammed Sadiq Al-Sadr, Moqtada Al-Sadr's
father.
11. (C) Dorbi used to regularly attend Friday prayers at the
Kufa Mosque in Najaf when Moqtada Al-Sadr preached there in
2004. He has close contact with many Sadrist clerics and
officials and regularly attends Najaf ceremonies commemorating
the death of Mohammed Sadiq Al-Sadr. While not considered a
hardline Sadrist, he considers the U.S. presence in Iraq as an
"occupation," and believes that the Coalition should withdraw.
He has agreed to meetings several times with SET Najaf, but has
never followed through on the meetings, offering excuses before
the meetings actually occur. This suggests that he might be
willing to meet U.S. officials outside of Najaf.
RADHWAN HUSSEIN ABBAS AL-KILIDAR
--------------
12. (SBU) Radhwan Hussein Abbas Al-Kilidar is the sole Najaf CoR
representative elected from the National Iraqi List. He joined
the list as a member of Iyad Allawi's Iraqi National Accord
(INA). Al-Kilidar was born in Baghdad in approximately 1960 and
moved to London in 1990 after members of the Saddam Hussein
regime killed his uncle and cousin. He earned a bachelor's
degree in history from Baghdad University in approximately 1980.
Al-Kilidar is married. He holds British citizenship, and his
family lives in London. He is a liberal who began working
against the Hussein regime while in exile in London. After the
2003 liberation, he returned to Iraq, where he worked briefly
with the Imam Ali Shrine Custodian Committee.
13. (SBU) Al-Kilidar travels frequently between Iraq and the
United Kingdom. He returned to the UK soon after he arrived in
Iraq in 2003 in response to the murder of Sayid Abdul Majeed
Al-Khoei in Najaf. He regularly visited the Najaf branch of the
Al-Khoei charitable endowment.
FONTENEAU
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2/28/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KISL IZ
SUBJECT: NAJAF COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES MEMBERS' BIOGRAPHICAL
INFORMATION
HILLAH 00000032 001.2 OF 002
CLASSIFIED BY: Alfred Fonteneau, RC, REO Al Hillah, Department
of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)
1. (U) This is a SET Najaf Cable.
2. (U) Najaf Province was allocated eight seats in the recently
elected Council of Representatives (CoR). The United Iraqi
Alliance (UIA) won seven of the eight seats. The eighth Najaf
seat went to a candidate from the Iyad Allawi-affiliated
National Iraqi List (NIL). Biographical information follows for
five of the eight representatives.
3. (U) Candidates who ran on the first, second and fourth
positions on the UIA slate from Najaf Province are based in
Baghdad and are not known by SET Najaf local staff and contacts.
The first is Haider Saeed Ismael. The second Najaf UIA
representative is Qassim Daoud, former National Security Advisor
under ex-Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. The fourth is Bassem Jassem
Noor.
JINAN JASSEM MOHAMMED ALI
--------------
4. (SBU) The third UIA representative, and first female, is
Jinan Jassem Mohammed Ali. Ali was born in Najaf in
approximately 1968. She has been a member of the Supreme Council
for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) since 1987. Several
of her cousins were executed during the 1991 Shi'a uprising. Ali
is married to a man known to have strong connections to powerful
Najaf clerics, and she has one child. She has degrees in
medicine from the Kufa University College of Medicine and the
University of Baghdad. A Provincial Council member in 2004, Ali
runs her own clinic and has been active in women's rights, in
the SCIRI women's office, and as a columnist in local
newspapers.
5. (C) Ali has met regularly with SET Najaf since her tenure on
the Najaf Provincial Council and met recently with a visiting
British diplomat. She has been cooperative and friendly during
these meetings, has avoided criticizing the U.S. and Coalition
Forces in public appearances and can be considered to have a
generally favorable impression of the U.S.
LIQAA JAAFER MUNTADHER AL-YASEEN
--------------
6. (SBU) Liqaa Jaafer Muntadher Al-Yasseen is the fifth UIA
representative elected from Najaf. Born in 1967 in Najaf,
Al-Yasseen is married and has two children. She is a Sadrist and
currently serves as the Director General of the Najaf Maternity
Hospital. She earned a degree in medicine from the University of
Baghdad in 1990. She earned an additional degree in gynecology
in 1996. Al-Yasseen has run a private clinic and previously
worked for the Najaf Department of Health from 2003 until 2005.
7. (C) Al-Yasseen has met with SET Najaf occasionally as part of
her duties as a Department of Health official. She worked with
SET Najaf, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officers and other
Coalition Forces officers during the U.S.-funded renovation of
the Najaf maternity and teaching hospitals, and because of this
can be considered to have a more favorable view of the U.S.
presence in Iraq than many of her fellow Sadrists.
QAIS SAAD HASSAN AL-AMEERI
--------------
8. (SBU) Qais Saad Hassan was elected to the CoR from the sixth
position on the UIA slate. Born in Najaf in 1972, Al-Ameeri is
married and has three children. His wife is the daughter of one
of the leaders of the Bani Hassan tribe. He has a 2003
bachelor's degree in law from Babil University, where he studied
at night. Al-Ameeri is an independent Shi'a Islamist loosely
affiliated with the gathering led by Hussein Al-Shahristani. In
the January 2005 elections, he worked with Hamed Al-Khafaf, an
aide to Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani. Al-Ameeri maintains a
private law office in Najaf and is active in the Kufa courts. He
is active in Najaf human rights and non-governmental
organization (NGO) circles.
9. (C) Al-Ameeri has not met with SET Najaf but has
relationships with many of SET Najaf's contacts in the Najaf
human rights advocacy and NGO community. He is believed to have
moderate views of the U.S. because of U.S. support for human
rights and NGOs.
NASSAR SAGHEER DORBI
--------------
HILLAH 00000032 002.2 OF 002
10. (SBU) Nassar Sagheer Dorbi was elected to the CoR from the
seventh position on the Najaf UIA slate. Dorbi was born in 1965
in Baghdad's Sadr City, where his father ran a grocery store. He
moved to Kufa, Najaf Province, in 1990. Dorbi is married and his
wife is a veterinarian. He earned a bachelor's degree in
veterinary medicine from University of Mosul in approximately
1988. He is a moderate Sadrist whose affiliation began following
the assassination of Mohammed Sadiq Al-Sadr, Moqtada Al-Sadr's
father.
11. (C) Dorbi used to regularly attend Friday prayers at the
Kufa Mosque in Najaf when Moqtada Al-Sadr preached there in
2004. He has close contact with many Sadrist clerics and
officials and regularly attends Najaf ceremonies commemorating
the death of Mohammed Sadiq Al-Sadr. While not considered a
hardline Sadrist, he considers the U.S. presence in Iraq as an
"occupation," and believes that the Coalition should withdraw.
He has agreed to meetings several times with SET Najaf, but has
never followed through on the meetings, offering excuses before
the meetings actually occur. This suggests that he might be
willing to meet U.S. officials outside of Najaf.
RADHWAN HUSSEIN ABBAS AL-KILIDAR
--------------
12. (SBU) Radhwan Hussein Abbas Al-Kilidar is the sole Najaf CoR
representative elected from the National Iraqi List. He joined
the list as a member of Iyad Allawi's Iraqi National Accord
(INA). Al-Kilidar was born in Baghdad in approximately 1960 and
moved to London in 1990 after members of the Saddam Hussein
regime killed his uncle and cousin. He earned a bachelor's
degree in history from Baghdad University in approximately 1980.
Al-Kilidar is married. He holds British citizenship, and his
family lives in London. He is a liberal who began working
against the Hussein regime while in exile in London. After the
2003 liberation, he returned to Iraq, where he worked briefly
with the Imam Ali Shrine Custodian Committee.
13. (SBU) Al-Kilidar travels frequently between Iraq and the
United Kingdom. He returned to the UK soon after he arrived in
Iraq in 2003 in response to the murder of Sayid Abdul Majeed
Al-Khoei in Najaf. He regularly visited the Najaf branch of the
Al-Khoei charitable endowment.
FONTENEAU