Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06MOSUL42
2006-04-08 16:05:00
CONFIDENTIAL
REO Mosul
Cable title:  

NINEWA: IRAQI ISLAMIC PARTY ON SECURITY

Tags:  PREL PINS PINT PGOV PHUM IZ MARR 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO7052
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHMOS #0042/01 0981605
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 081605Z APR 06
FM REO MOSUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0464
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEHLU/AMEMBASSY LUANDA 0058
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0041
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0045
RUEHMOS/REO MOSUL 0483
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSUL 000042 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 4/8/2016
TAGS: PREL PINS PINT PGOV PHUM IZ MARR
SUBJECT: NINEWA: IRAQI ISLAMIC PARTY ON SECURITY

MOSUL 00000042 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Cameron Munter, PRT Leader, Provincial
Reconstruction Team Ninewa, State.
REASON: 1.4 (a),(b),(d)



-------------------
SUMMARY AND COMMENT
-------------------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSUL 000042

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 4/8/2016
TAGS: PREL PINS PINT PGOV PHUM IZ MARR
SUBJECT: NINEWA: IRAQI ISLAMIC PARTY ON SECURITY

MOSUL 00000042 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Cameron Munter, PRT Leader, Provincial
Reconstruction Team Ninewa, State.
REASON: 1.4 (a),(b),(d)



--------------
SUMMARY AND COMMENT
--------------


1. (C) Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) leaders in Ninewa want a more
representative Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and a reduced role of
Coalition Forces (CF). They claim the Kurds are meddling with
security and politics in the province. IIP reps believe they
should play a larger role with helping CF and ISF on cases
involving imams and religious leaders. They claim they can help
CF "win hearts and minds" by bringing suspected terrorists to CF
and ISF for questioning, rather than have CF and ISF conduct
nighttime raids on houses. Even if the IIP's aims are
altruistic, we are not sure how effective the party could be on
this issue given the fractured nature of Sunni Arab political
and tribal allegiances in Ninewa. End Summary and Comment.


2. (SBU) MNF-N joined by PRT Leader and PolOff met with Iraqi
Islamic Party (IIP) Ninewa Director Dr. Mohammed Shaker Al
Ghanam, Ninewa Deputy and Political Director Younis Hashim,
provincial councilmembers Momtaz Mahmood Al Arajy and Hassan,
and Leadership Officer Faris Younis at IIP headquarters in Mosul
on April 1.

--------------
CAUSES OF SECURITY PROBLEMS
--------------


3. (C) IIP reps believe different actors in and outside of Iraq
perpetrate terrorism in Ninewa. The view from the local IIP has
been consistent over the past few months, especially when
fingering Iraq's neighbors for problems in Iraq. Members of the
IIP said they believed "Tekfiri" ("foreigners") kept interfering
with affairs in Mosul, since Moslawis were truly a peaceful
people that had lived together for thousands of years. Ninewa
director Al Ghanam accused Iran of playing a large role with
terrorist activity in Iraq, and indirectly implicated the Kurds

with trying to manipulate politics in the province.

--------------
MORE REPRESENTATIVE SECURITY FORCES NEEDED
--------------


4. (C) Al Ghanam thanked Coalition Forces (CF) for helping
secure the city and province, but also requested more CF and USG
assistance to make the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) more
representative. "The police and army should be made up of
people from the city," claimed Al Ghanam. He believed the
public needed to personally care for Mosul's security or
conditions would not improve. Al Ghanam said all ethnic groups
in Ninewa should be represented proportionally in the ISF. Only
then, he cautioned, would the people of the province fully
respect ISF. It was tough for the people to support the police
in predominantly Sunni Tal Afar, for example, when he claimed
the force was "mostly Shia." And many members of the Iraqi Army
(IA) forces stationed in eastern Mosul were Kurds from outside
of Ninewa, said Hashim. Hashim claimed that the IIP sent a
letter several years ago to the Ministry of Interior (MOI) in
Baghdad with a list of potential Sunni candidates for the ISF,
but that no response was ever received. Another important
aspect, according to Al Ghanam, was to better educate the public
on reporting insurgents and terrorist activities. The IIP, on
the other hand, had been doing its part by "going public" to get
their followers to respect the police and to participate in the
democratic process.

--------------
WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS
--------------


5. (C) Al Ghanam claimed that CF could do more to win the
hearts and minds of the populace in Mosul. Speaking on the
recent arrest of a local imam, Al Ghanam suggested that IIP play
a larger role with helping CF and ISF when conducting
counterinsurgency efforts. He requested CF and ISF contact the
party directly when receiving intelligence information
implicating a religious scholar or imam. The IIP would bring
the suspect in to ISF and CF for questioning, he said. Al
Ghanam claimed the public in Mosul was becoming displeased with
nighttime raids on houses, especially when religious leaders or
"innocent" people were arrested. The process he described would

MOSUL 00000042 002.2 OF 002


place less attention on the negative aspects of raids and
arrests and help concentrate efforts on battling terrorism. Al
Ghanam also said the IIP would not stand in the way of CF and
ISF work to locate and arrest "known terrorists," however. He
asked that CF reduce the number of armored vehicles in Mosul,
and leave patrolling up to the ISF. Al Arajy claimed poor
security in Ninewa was caused by the large presence of CF
vehicles in the city and an "imbalance of power" in the ISF. Al
Ghanam also called for more recruiting of ISF serving the former
regime, since it would provide jobs and create stability in the
area.

--------------
PROVINCIAL ELECTIONS AND THE KURDS
--------------


6. (C) Regarding provincial elections slated for later this
year, Al Ghanam said: security was "critical" especially for
protecting the integrity of the vote. Using Kurdish or Shia
forces to provide security at the polls would only make the
situation worse and allow for foul play, he said. Even local
governments were being run by the Kurds, said Al Ghanam,
especially in places like Sinjar, and Zumar in the west. He
claimed IIP was seeing tensions build in these and other areas
under Kurdish control, which was causing "gaps" for outside
terrorists to enter. Al Arajy said local governments in western
Ninewa were pleased with the support they were receiving from
the KRG, for example, but that the KRG was only "trying to buy
votes."

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


7. (C) The views shared by the IIP reps in Ninewa are
consistent: the creation of more representative security forces,
the reduction of Coalition Forces, and tensions with the Kurds.
Fingering of Iran as the root of all security problems in Mosul,
and Iraq, is a constant theme as well but does little to address
allegations of Iraqi and neighboring Arab government involvement
in Iraq's tenuous security situation. Theirs is a one-sided
view, blaming others for the insurgency. Further, the fractured
nature of Sunni politics here makes us skeptical of the IIP's
ability to represent an overall "Sunni" position.
MUNTER