NAJAF COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES MEMBERS' BIOGRAPHICAL

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