Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BAGHDAD1041
2007-03-26 10:51:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:
SADRISTS TELL LOCAL COUNCILS IN SADR CITY TO SHUT
how-toVZCZCXRO5267 PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK DE RUEHGB #1041 0851051 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 261051Z MAR 07 FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0373 INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 001041
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/26/2017
TAGS: PTER PGOV PINS IZ
SUBJECT: SADRISTS TELL LOCAL COUNCILS IN SADR CITY TO SHUT
THEIR DOORS
Classified By: PRT Leader Joe Gregorie, Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)
C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 001041
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/26/2017
TAGS: PTER PGOV PINS IZ
SUBJECT: SADRISTS TELL LOCAL COUNCILS IN SADR CITY TO SHUT
THEIR DOORS
Classified By: PRT Leader Joe Gregorie, Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)
1. (U) This is a Baghdad PRT Reporting Cable.
2. (C) Summary: According to Sadr City District Council
member Ali Swadi, Sadrist leaders put out a directive on
March 18 to all local councils in Sadr City to cease
operations and not cooperate with MNF units. Not all council
members are in agreement with this policy, signifying a
possible split among different factions of Sadrist-aligned
local leaders. End Summary.
3. (C) The directive against the local councils, which was
announced after an emergency meeting of all Sadr City
councils (District and Neighborhood) on March 18, was
justified by the Sadrists by claiming that it was unsafe for
local councils to meet due to the government's ineffective
response to the attack on Sadr City qa'im makam Raheem
al-Duraji. Ali Swadi, a local independent council member,
said this was a joke, because it was most likely Sadrists who
attacked al-Duraji in the first place. The Sadrists were
making this declaration, Swadi said, because of MNF presence
in Sadr City, and the establishment of a joint security
center there. Ali Swadi said that the current Sadr City DC
Chairman, Abd al-Hassan Jabar al-Kaby, is toeing the line of
the Sadrists with which he is affiliated.
4. (C) Chairman al-Kaby then held a follow-up meeting with
his District Council members on March 19 to discuss practical
steps toward calling for an all-out boycott against MNF
cooperation. According to Swadi, some members are willing to
along with al-Kaby only because they are afraid of Jash al
Mahdi (JAM) militia reprisals if they don't. Swadi said that
threats against members who cooperate with US forces were
specifically made by al-Kaby, who was accompanied at this
closed-door session of the Council by a Colonel in the Iraqi
Army.
5. (C) Comment: The comments by Ali Swadi have been
corroborated by other local council members. In general,
there seems to be a developing division within Sadr City
politics: Sadrists who seek to raise tensions, Sadrists who
seek cooperation, and local independents who are trying to
stay out of the way. End comment
KHALILZAD
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/26/2017
TAGS: PTER PGOV PINS IZ
SUBJECT: SADRISTS TELL LOCAL COUNCILS IN SADR CITY TO SHUT
THEIR DOORS
Classified By: PRT Leader Joe Gregorie, Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)
1. (U) This is a Baghdad PRT Reporting Cable.
2. (C) Summary: According to Sadr City District Council
member Ali Swadi, Sadrist leaders put out a directive on
March 18 to all local councils in Sadr City to cease
operations and not cooperate with MNF units. Not all council
members are in agreement with this policy, signifying a
possible split among different factions of Sadrist-aligned
local leaders. End Summary.
3. (C) The directive against the local councils, which was
announced after an emergency meeting of all Sadr City
councils (District and Neighborhood) on March 18, was
justified by the Sadrists by claiming that it was unsafe for
local councils to meet due to the government's ineffective
response to the attack on Sadr City qa'im makam Raheem
al-Duraji. Ali Swadi, a local independent council member,
said this was a joke, because it was most likely Sadrists who
attacked al-Duraji in the first place. The Sadrists were
making this declaration, Swadi said, because of MNF presence
in Sadr City, and the establishment of a joint security
center there. Ali Swadi said that the current Sadr City DC
Chairman, Abd al-Hassan Jabar al-Kaby, is toeing the line of
the Sadrists with which he is affiliated.
4. (C) Chairman al-Kaby then held a follow-up meeting with
his District Council members on March 19 to discuss practical
steps toward calling for an all-out boycott against MNF
cooperation. According to Swadi, some members are willing to
along with al-Kaby only because they are afraid of Jash al
Mahdi (JAM) militia reprisals if they don't. Swadi said that
threats against members who cooperate with US forces were
specifically made by al-Kaby, who was accompanied at this
closed-door session of the Council by a Colonel in the Iraqi
Army.
5. (C) Comment: The comments by Ali Swadi have been
corroborated by other local council members. In general,
there seems to be a developing division within Sadr City
politics: Sadrists who seek to raise tensions, Sadrists who
seek cooperation, and local independents who are trying to
stay out of the way. End comment
KHALILZAD