: PRT TIKRIT: DEPUTY GOVERNOR ABDULLAH AJBARAH --

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 001149 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR INR/B E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/30/2017 TAGS: PGOV PINR ECON KDEM IZ SUBJECT: : PRT TIKRIT: DEPUTY GOVERNOR ABDULLAH AJBARAH -- SALAH AD DIN'S POWERBROKER Classified By: PRTLEADER Steve Buckler for reasons 1.5 b/d ¶1. (U) This is a PRT Tikrit, Salah ad Din cable. ¶2. (C) SUMMARY. Politically savvy, tribally connected, well-educated, and a former General, Deputy Governor Abdullah Hussein Mohammed Ajbarah al Jabouri is Salah ad Din's powerbroker. He is pro-USG and Coalition Forces (CF),but does not have an overly democratic style of leadership in his administration of the provincial government. A former firqah level Ba'ath Party member, he has contact with Ba'ath Party members and effectively pursues expansion of his influence in both political and tribal realms. Universally agreed upon as the most influential individual in the province, he is forced to balance pressure from four major groups: his tribe, the Ba'ath Party, Sunni insurgent groups, and the USG/Coalition Forces. He is central to all of the CF/USG's initiatives in the province. END SUMMARY. -------------- Administration as Deputy Governor -------------- ¶3. (C) Abdullah was elected Deputy Governor of Salah ad Din in June 2004, after having served as the province's governor during the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). In office, he has proven to be a capable administrator. He makes all major decisions in the province, and nothing is accomplished administratively without his approval. He is not overly democratic in his leadership style. As a civil servant, he still leads like a military general, without soliciting opinions and without being questioned. His special assistant is a retired military colonel. When a well-known civil servant's brother was found to be involved in Abdullah's brother's kidnapping, the civil servant was extra-legally detained by Abdullah until he was confident the civil servant had not been involved. -------------- Tribal Connections -------------- ¶4. (C) A member of the province's most influential family and tribe, Abdullah's older brother Sheikh Ahmad "Naji" is President of the provincial Sheikhs' Council. His younger brother, COL Jassim Mohammad, is the Provincial Director of National Security Affairs. His family, the Ajbarahs, were one of the few clans in the province who cooperated when the CF arrived in April 2003, and the CF rewarded them with top jobs, foremost among them were Sheikh Naji's presidency at the CF-created Sheikhs' Council and Abdullah Ajbarah's previous appointment as the SaD Governor. Other positions with the police and provincial intelligence also went to tribesmen. With the advent of democracy, the tribe lost many of its positions of influence to others who were elected in their places, leaving the tribe's fate hanging on Sheikh Naji and Abdullah Ajbarah's shoulders. For Abdullah, the tribal pressure and expectation increased when Sheikh Naji was kidnapped by AQIZ affiliates on January 8, 2007 (reftel). ¶5. (C) The Ajbarah family is a clan in the al Jabouri tribe, which is the largest tribe in the province. A savvy political operative in the tribal system, Abdullah actively and effectively pursues expansion of his influence in other tribes. Abdullah parleyed his role in returning Saddam's remains to Owja into greater influence in Saddam's Albu-Nasir tribe, a tribe which historically had poor relations with the Ajbarahs and the al Jabouri tribe. According to atmospherics reporting from all areas and tribes in the province, Abdullah is the most respected provincial government official in Salah ad Din and not believed to be as tainted by corruption as many others provincial officials. -------------- Military Career -------------- ¶6. (C) At the time of the U.S. invasion in 2003, Abdullah was a Brigadier General of an Armory Division and was a Tank Brigade Commander. According to contacts, he was and still is very well respected among his military colleagues for his leadership ability. In 2003, he was teaching at the former Iraqi Army's War College. After the former IA was dismantled, Abdullah began working with the CF. As a result of his military career, Abdullah maintains close contact with former IA officers and officials. Some of those individuals likely have connections to the insurgency. He was wounded twice during the Iraq-Iran war and still has shrapnel embedded in his upper body. BAGHDAD 00001149 002 OF 003 -------------- Former and Current Ba'ath Party Connections -------------- ¶7. (C) Ahdullah was a firqah level member of the Ba'ath Party, and he claims to have obtained an exception from the Deba'athification Commission to hold his current position. However, the Deba'athification Commission and other GOI ministries have repeatedly sent letters to the SaD Governor informing him that Abdullah should be removed from his position for his former associations with the Ba'ath Party. To date, the Governor has insisted that Abdullah remain in place, and the Provincial Council and other members of the provincial government have passively supported the Deputy Governor's continuance. (NOTE: According to contacts, SaD Governor Hamad Hamoud al Shakti al Qaisi is beholden to the Ajabarah clan because clan leader Sheikh Naji was instrumental in orchestrating the behind-the-scenes political maneuvers that saw the Governor put in office. END NOTE.) Abdullah has thrown his support behind other individuals the Deba'athification Commission has attempted to remove, such as the Provincial Engineer who has the lead on all reconstruction projects in the province. ¶8. (S/NF) Abdullah has intimated that high-level Ba'ath Party members communicate with him regularly, and he often passes messages from those individuals to the USG/CF. He adamantly argues for the Constitution to be amended so that the Ba'ath Party can be incorporated into Iraq's multi-party democracy, a sentiment that resonates well with Salah ad Din's population. Abdullah claims the Ba'athists that he communicates with are the "good Ba'athists" who now desire inclusion in the democratic process. -------------- Communication with Sunni Insurgent Groups -------------- ¶9. (S/NF) Other reporting has indicated that insurgent groups occasionally approach Abdullah to request he use his influence and good relations with the CF to see detainees of interest released. It is possible that he has advocated release of certain detainees with the CF in order to maintain his influence with insurgent groups. His interaction with these groups, however, appears to be out of necessity to maintain influence and control in the province and not out of an ideological or political sympathy. -------------- Relationship with the CF/USG -------------- ¶10. (C) Abdullah has worked with the CF and USG since 2003, and that relationship has become closer over the past 12 months, as a result of greater CF/USG engagement, both military and civilian (PRT),with the provincial government. Since his brother Sheikh Naji's kidnapping in January 2007, Abdullah has provided extensive information about AQIZ in Salah ad Din. Additionally, he has encouraged and organized others to do the same. With the USG's greater engagement on issues of import to the province, Abdullah has gone to greater lengths to promote publicly democratic institutions in the province and advocate for the USG among the province's leaders. He has gone on the widely-popular Salah ad Din satellite TV in support of USG initiatives and has organized meetings with tribal leaders where he advocated USG positions. -------------- Family, Education, and Personal Details -------------- ¶11. (C) Abdullah is married and has at least five children, three sons and two daughters. His young teenage son, Kasim, spent three weeks in the combat support hospital on Camp Speicher near Tikrit after he accidentally ingested a small amount of tri-methyl lead, a fuel additive. Kasim made a full recovery and, since that time, Abdullah has advocated for other Iraqi patients to be transferred to CF hospitals. Another son and one daughter are students at the University of Tikrit. Abdullah has one grandchild. ¶12. (C) Abdullah has a MS in Political Science. He studied in India for some period of time. He is proficient in English, though prefers to use an interpreter when talking about sensitive or complex topics. ¶13. (C) Though cordial and always welcoming, Abdullah is not overly affectionate and rarely hugs Iraqi or American BAGHDAD 00001149 003 OF 003 colleagues. He prefers direct discussions and forthrightly speaks his mind. He appears to be in good health. ¶14. (U) CF and USG officials generally address the Deputy Governor as "General Abdullah." ¶15. (C) A picture of Abdullah will be forwarded to INR/B via email. For additional reporting from PRT Tikrit, Salah ad Din, please see our SIPRNET Reporting Blog: http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Tikrit. CROCKER