SHI'A JUDGE IN AL-HASA SEEKS GREATER RESOURCES

C O N F I D E N T I A L RIYADH 000008

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DHAHRAN SENDS
PARIS FOR ZEYA, LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/02/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KIRF KISL SA
SUBJECT: SHI'A JUDGE IN AL-HASA SEEKS GREATER RESOURCES
FROM SAG

REF: 2005 RIYADH 8582 (NOTAL)

Classified by Acting Consul General Ramin Asgard for reasons
1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) Acting CG and PolOff paid an introductory call on
Sheikh Mohammad Al-Luwaimi, President of the Shi'ite
Endowments and Inheritance Court in Al-Hasa, on December 28.
Al-Luwaimi is the only judge in the only Shi'ite court
serving the Shi'a population of Al-Hasa, a governorate in the
Eastern Province centered on the Al-Hasa oasis. The overall
population of Al-Hasa is about 800,000, of which, we believe,
slightly less than half are Shi'a. The jurisdiction of
Al-Luwaimi's court is limited to intra-Shi'a family law.
According to another contact, there are 10 courts with 30
judges that serve Al-Hasa's Sunni population in all legal
matters (as well as Al-Hasa's Shi'a population in matters
that are outside the Shi'ite court's jurisdiction).


2. (C) Al-Luwaimi said that, although the Ministry of
Justice now officially recognized the court, it did not
provide the same level of resources it provided Sunni courts.
The court is housed in a small, rented building tucked away
in the back streets of Hufuf, the largest city in Al-Hasa
oasis. Al-Luwaimi wrote the Ministry of Justice over a year
ago requesting that his court be moved to a larger,
government-owned building to accommodate the growth in
petitioners and to give the court a more permanent and
legitimate status. He said that the government recently
placed an add in the papers seeking a larger building to rent
for the court, suggesting that the Ministry did not intend to
move the court to a government-owned building. Al-Luwaimi
also acknowledged that his court faced the same
jurisdictional problems as the Shi'ite court in Qatif
(reftel),namely that Shi'a will sometimes exploit the
differences between Shi'a and Sunni family law by seeking
judgments in Sunni courts on issues that should fall within
the Shi'ite court's jurisdiction. "People are free," he
said, shrugging his shoulders to indicate his inability to
stop the practice.


3. (C) Bio note: Al-Luwaimi appears to be in his early
seventies. His eyesight is poor, but he acts quickly and
decisively with the petitions brought to him. He studied
jurisprudence in Najaf "before Sistani" and has been
affiliated with the Shi'ite court in Al-Hasa for about 15
years, serving as its judge, first unofficially but now
officially, since the previous judge died three years ago.
He has 14 children ranging in age from 38 years to one year
(the last one by an Iraqi wife). End bio note.

(APPROVED: ASGARD)
OBERWETTER