NINEWA: PROVINCIAL CHIEF OF POLICE CONFIRMS SECTARIAN STRIFE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSUL 000051

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 5/20/2016
TAGS: PREL PINS PINT PGOV PHUM IZ MARR
SUBJECT: NINEWA: PROVINCIAL CHIEF OF POLICE CONFIRMS SECTARIAN STRIFE
IN TAL AFAR

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CLASSIFIED BY: Jerome P. Hohman, IPAO, Provincial Reconstruction
Team Ninewa, State.
REASON: 1.4 (a),(b),(d)



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SUMMARY
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1. (S) Provincial Chief of Police Wathiq al-Qudir confirms
recent violence in the western Ninewa city of Tal Afar is due to
sectarian strife. President Bush mentioned Tal Afar in a speech
this year as a beacon of hope after successful counterinsurgency
efforts last September helped bring stability to the area.
Al-Qudir claims Shia police officers, presumably taking orders
from the Ministry of Interior in Baghdad, are behind the attacks
on Sunnis. Incidents range from bogus arrests and detentions,
to outright physical aggression. Al-Qudir says Shia and Sunni
violence and intimidation in Tal Afar is forcing Sunni families
to seek safety with friends and relatives in Mosul, and
estimates the number of those fleeing might be more than 2,000.
Security forces in the area believe the latest violence is in
retaliation for Sunni attacks on Shia markets on April 21 and
May 9. End Summary.

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SECTARIAN STRIFE IN TAL AFAR CAUSING SUNNIS TO FLEE
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2. (S) Provincial Chief of Police (PCOP) Wathiq al-Qudir
confirmed recent violence in the western city of Tal Afar was
caused by sectarian strife. Al-Qudir told PRT Deputy Team
Leader and PolOff on May 20 that recent attacks against Sunnis
were caused by Shia-dominated police officers presumably taking
orders from the Ministry of Interior in Baghdad. He also
accused Shia police of fabricating evidence to arrest and detain
Sunnis. Many Shia officers had been intimidating and, in
certain cases, physically harming their Sunni victims, he said.
Al-Qudir said Shia and Sunni violence and intimidation in the
area was forcing thousands of Sunni families to flee to safety
in Mosul. Al-Qudir estimated there were more than 2,000 Sunni
families that had left Tal Afar over the past few weeks, but
that the number was not yet confirmed. He said he would compile
the exact number of displaced persons in a formal report to be
submitted to the central government by the end of May. He said
those leaving Tal Afar were not living in camps, but rather
staying with family and friends in Mosul. During a recent
public television broadcast earlier in the week al-Qudir asked
all fleeing families to register with his office.


3. (S) Al-Qudir's comments confirmed lingering suspicions from
several sources that incidents of violence in Tal Afar were
sparked by a suicide attack at a predominantly Shia market on
April 21, and a suicide vehicle bombing at another Shia market
on May 9. According to security forces operating in the area,
an Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQIZ) memorandum recently captured outlined
a strategy to create a sectarian civil war in the city. This
memorandum, they believed, might have incited the attacks on the
markets. The sources claimed these events might have led to
retaliatory attacks by Shia police on a Sunni hospital, as well
as recent incidents of intimidation and aggression. On May 11
Ninewa Provincial Council Chair Salem Haj Issa told PRT DTL that
during a visit to Tal Afar a few days before he received word
from city councilmembers that Shia police officers had been
harassing Sunnis. And members of the Iraqi Islamic Party told
PRT officials on May 18 that conflict between Sunnis and Shia
was impacting security in the area. They called on Iraqi
Security Forces and Coalition Forces to help control the
problem.

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SEEKING HELP FROM FRIENDS
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4. (S) Chief of Police al-Qudir and Iraqi Army (IA) 2nd
Division General Jamaal said they were working with IA 3rd
Division General Khorsheed (whose area of operation was in
western Ninewa) to resolve the situation. Al-Qudir said the
problem ultimately rested with his office, but he was relying on
his security forces colleagues for assistance. Al-Qudir and
Jamaal admitted they had gone public many times over the past
few months claiming there was no sectarian violence in Ninewa,
especially Tal Afar, but said they did so to pacify the public.
However, both men claimed remorse for the misleading statements,
and that the time had come to "speak the truth."

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COMMENT
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5. (C) Al-Qudir's words match recent statements from several
sources that ethnic tensions in Tal Afar are heating up. While
there are friction points between Shia and Sunni in the city,
PRT contacts believe the recent violence is caused by outside
actors attempting to take advantage of an already tenuous
situation in Tal Afar. Groups such as AQIZ appear to be
exploiting historical tensions between Sunnis and Shia to
destroy any goodwill that resulted after successful
counterinsurgency efforts by Coalition Forces and Iraqi Security
Forces there last fall. Al-Qudir believes problems in the area
might also be caused by events in Baghdad and the lack of a
central government.
GRANT