Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06MOSUL44
2006-04-11 11:19:00
CONFIDENTIAL
REO Mosul
Cable title:  

NINEWA: SCIRI REP BLAMES SUNNIS, USG FOR PROBLEMS WITH

Tags:  PREL PINS PINT PGOV PHUM IZ MARR 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO9243
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHMOS #0044/01 1011119
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 111119Z APR 06
FM REO MOSUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0468
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEHLU/AMEMBASSY LUANDA 0062
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0045
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0049
RUEHMOS/REO MOSUL 0487
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSUL 000044 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 4/11/2016
TAGS: PREL PINS PINT PGOV PHUM IZ MARR
SUBJECT: NINEWA: SCIRI REP BLAMES SUNNIS, USG FOR PROBLEMS WITH
GOVERNMENT FORMATION

MOSUL 00000044 001.2 OF 002


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



-------
SUMMARY
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSUL 000044

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 4/11/2016
TAGS: PREL PINS PINT PGOV PHUM IZ MARR
SUBJECT: NINEWA: SCIRI REP BLAMES SUNNIS, USG FOR PROBLEMS WITH
GOVERNMENT FORMATION

MOSUL 00000044 001.2 OF 002


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



--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) SCIRI provincial spokesman Aref Yousef believes delays
in the formation of a new central government are the fault of
Sunni Arab political parties and the USG. Yousef says Sunni
coalitions Tawafoq Iraqi Front (Iraqi Accord Front) and Iraqi
Front for National Dialogue (Al Hewar Iraqi Front) are
responsible for not compromising on government formation and for
inciting violence throughout the country. Statements by the USG
in Iraq are also contributing to tensions, claims Yousef. He
fingered U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Khalilzad of "choosing" the
side of Sunni Arabs in government talks. Yousef requests that
the USG be more neutral in its dealings with all political
parties and ethnicities in the country. Regarding militias,
Yousef admits Badr Brigades has a presence in Ninewa but denies
they are operating as a militia here. End Summary.


2. (SBU) PRT PolOff met with Supreme Council for Islamic
Revolution of Iraq (SCIRI) provincial spokesman Aref Yousef in
Mosul on April 9.

--------------
HIGH EXPECTATIONS AND SUNNI LETDOWN
--------------


3. (C) SCIRI provincial spokesman Yousef claimed that the Iraqi
people were hungry for government stability, but that Sunni Arab
political parties and the USG hindered its formation. He said
the Iraqi people, especially the Shia community, were "let down"
after high expectations coming out of last December's national
election. As a result security has crumbled, talks have been
stalled, and the situation would continue to worsen every day if
there was no government. Yousef recommended that problems be
handled through the political process and not by armed conflict
between Sunnis and Shia. Tawafoq Iraqi Front coalition (led by

the Iraqi Islamic Party "IIP") and the predominantly Sunni-Iraqi
National Dialogue Council (INDC) were the biggest perpetrators
of terrorism, claimed Yousef. The USG could help fix the
problem by asking more secular and neutral leaders from the
Sunni Arab community -- such as Vice President Sheikh Ghazi Al
Yawar and Mithal Al-Aloosi of the Iraqi Nation (Al-Umma) Party
-- to help negotiate the new government's formation instead.
Both Al-Aloosi and Al Yawar could be relied upon to help build
consensus and "eliminate" terrorist elements of the two larger
Sunni Arab parties, he said. When asked whether the situation
would cool down if Prime Minister Ibrahim Al Ja'afari stepped
aside, Yousef disagreed. The problem was much larger than
Ja'afari, he claimed. Rather, Iraqis would accept any
leadership as long as the government was formed.

--------------
USG ALSO AT FAULT FOR LACK OF NEW GOVERNMENT
--------------


4. (C) Yousef claimed public statements by U.S. Ambassador to
Iraq Khalilzad have hindered efforts to form the new government.
"His outlook should be impartial," said Yousef of the
Ambassador. Instead, claimed Yousef, Khalilzad appeared to be
"favoring" Sunni Arab political parties over others, especially
the Shia. And as a result the Shia were demonstrating against
the USG. When pressed for more specifics Yousef said it was not
necessarily Khalilzad's statements that Prime Minister Ibrahim
Al Ja'afari should step down. Rather, it was how Khalilzad
"attacked" the Ministry of Interior (MOI),saying that the
country could be heading down the path of civil war, claimed
Yousef. He said he could not understand why Khalilzad would
support Sunni Arabs in the political process when they
originally "objected" to the democratic process in Iraq and were
responsible for "encouraging terror."

--------------
NO SHIA MILITIAS IN NINEWA
--------------


5. (C) Yousef said he could not speak about whether there were
Shia militias causing problems in southern Iraq. However, he
did claim that Badr Brigade members were residing in Bartalla in
eastern Ninewa. He said Badr forces came to Ninewa in the 1980s

MOSUL 00000044 002.2 OF 002


during the Iran-Iraq War, and comprised of Shia, Sunni, Yezidis,
and Christians. By 1988, the Badr were only sporadically
engaged in fights with Saddam Hussein's forces, he said. Today,
the approximately 50 remaining Badr members were "without
weapons" and had successfully transitioned to a social
assistance organization. The "new" Badr Brigade held education
and religious courses for women and sports leagues for youth, he
claimed. Yousef deflected questions about allegations of MOI
death squads and the Mahdi Militia. He implicated Sunni Arabs
with security problems in the country instead. Problems in
Mosul with kidnappings, threats, and assassinations were caused
by Sunni Arab aggression, he claimed. Shia could no longer live
safely in the city, said Yousef, and that was why SCIRI moved
its headquarters out of Mosul late last year.

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


6. (C) Iraq's largest political party, SCIRI is a tiny minority
in Ninewa, with most of its support coming from Shia Turkoman in
Tal Afar in the west and Shia Shabek in Al Hamdaniya and Bashiqa
districts in the east. We noticed a change in Yousef's attitude
towards Sunnis, especially with regards to the two largest Sunni
Arab political parties, IIP and INDC, which he blames for
stalling new government formation talks in Baghdad. After the
December election Yousef was very encouraged and spoke about
reaching out to all groups, especially Sunni Arabs in Ninewa.
Now that has changed, which is not a good sign for Shia-Sunni
harmony in Ninewa.
MUNTER