CHALDEAN PATRIARCH AGREES TO EXTEND COMBAT OUTPOST

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001607

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2017
TAGS: MOPS PHUM PGOV PREL KIRF IZ VT
SUBJECT: CHALDEAN PATRIARCH AGREES TO EXTEND COMBAT OUTPOST
PRESENCE AT RELIGIOUS COLLEGE

REF: A) BAGHDAD 1190 B) BAGHDAD 1425 C) BAGHDAD 1173

BAGHDAD 00001607 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: DEPUTY POLITICAL COUNSELOR CHARLES O. BLAHA FOR REASONS
1.4 (B,D).


1. (S) SUMMARY: During a May 14 meeting with MNF-I and
Embassy representatives, Chaldean Patriarch Emmanuel III
Delly and Vice Patriarch Bishop Shlemoon Wardoni requested
that Coalition Forces (CF) continue to maintain Combat
Outpost (COP) Amanche at the Chaldean Church's Babel College
of Philosophy and Theology in Doura until at least June 30.
MNF-I representatives agreed to honor the request, which was
a change from the Church's previous decision that the CF
should withdraw by the end of May (ref A). The Patriarch
explained that extending the CF's presence would prevent
insurgents from destroying the building before he could make
arrangements to remove valuable Church property. He
emphasized that his request must remain secret to avoid
reprisals against the Church; for now, the public should only
know that MNF-I is continuing to seek another location for
the COP. The Patriarch said he would brief Monsignor Philip
Najim -- the Patriarch's representative in Rome -- on the
outcome of the meeting. He also requested a follow-up
meeting in June with MNF-I and Embassy representatives. END
SUMMARY.

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PATRIARCH: CHURCH CONSENT ON COP EXTENSION MUST REMAIN SECRET
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2. (S) On May 14, during a meeting with EmbOffs and Colonel
(COL) Ricky Gibbs, the commander overseeing combat operations
in the Rashid area of Baghdad including the Doura district,
Chaldean Patriarch Delly requested an extension of the CF
presence at COP Amanche until at least June 30. COL Gibbs
said that he had been ready to withdraw from the COP by the
end of May as previously agreed, but having received the
Patriarch's permission, he would operate the COP until at
least June 30. The Patriarch indicated that maintaining
plausible deniability regarding the Church's position on CF
presence at the College was needed to prevent more reprisals
against Christians by insurgents. The Patriarch said that
COL Gibbs should "keep looking" for another place to relocate
the COP. The Patriarch and COL Gibbs agreed to meet again
June to reevaluate whether conditions have improved enough
for the CF to withdraw.


3. (S) Bishop Wardoni also requested and received COL Gibbs'
consent for the Church to put on the wall of the seminary a
banner stating that Church did not give permission to the CF
to occupy the building and the CF should look for a place to
relocate. (Note: To discourage attacks, Iraqi church leaders
had placed banners near churches to announce that they were
not responsible for Pope Benedict XVI's reading of
controversial statements concerning Islam in September 2006.
End note.)

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SECURITY, PROPERTY DAMAGE CONCERNS BEHIND EXTENSION
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3. (S) While lauding the security benefits the CF provides,
the Patriarch noted that the Church could not publicly state
its approval of continued CF presence in Babel College. Both
the Patriarch and the Bishop expressed repeated concerns
about the fate of the College building and the property
within it were the CF to withdraw from the College at this
time. The Patriarch and Bishop Wardoni said they preferred
not to remove property from the College, because the Church
hopes to reopen Babel College eventually and vehicles seen
moving Church property from the College may draw attacks by
insurgents. In addition, the Church does not have another
place to house the large quantities of property remaining in
the building. The Patriarch said that if necessary, the
Church could arrange to remove the most valuable items, such
as precious manuscripts; however, the present security
situation would make removing any property a dangerous
operation.

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PATRIARCH REQUESTS MORE SECURITY
--------------


4. (S) The Patriarch and the Bishop asserted that perhaps the
Baghdad Security Plan had not reached Doura, since in the
last two weeks at least 75 Christian families fleeing Doura
had sought shelter in Baghdad churches (ref B). He pointed
out that all five churches in Doura had closed. The

BAGHDAD 00001607 002.2 OF 002


Patriarch said that insurgents hide when CF are present, but
return when they depart. COL Gibbs acknowledged the problem,
saying that when he previously provided information to Iraqi
forces about impending operations in West Rashid, due to a
leak, within 24 hours the insurgents left the area. He also
informed the Patriarch that the Coalition had recently
doubled its troop strength in Doura. COL Gibbs told the
Patriarch three out of five the combat battalions based in
East and West Rashid were in Doura -- and 13 US soldiers from
these battalions had been killed in the last two months. He
also informed the Patriarch that recently the number of
murders the area had been cut down from roughly 500 to 200
per month, several senior Al-Qaeda and Jaysh Al-Mahdi (JAM)
leaders had been captured, and 85 insurgent caches had been
seized in vacant homes.


5. (S) The Patriarch also requested that the Coalition
provide security for the 14 guards at the seminary across the
street from Babel College. COL Gibbs said that while he
cannot post soldiers at the seminary, he would take the
guards' names and provide them contact numbers to call in
case they are threatened. In response to the Patriarch's
concerns about the security of the Saint John the Baptist
church near the Doura Market )- which recently had the
crosses removed from its front door and cupola -) COL Gibbs
said that there are 100 US soldiers and 60 Iraqi soldiers
living in the Doura Market (soon to be augmented by two
additional companies of US forces) and he would provide the
Patriarch with contact numbers for those units in the event
there are further threats.

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PATRIARCH BRIEFED ON COLLEGE'S CONDITION
--------------


6. (S) COL Gibbs gave the Patriarch a full briefing on Babel
College's status that included photographs and diagrams
depicting Babel College's current condition. (Note: Babel
College is not a seminary. The Saint Peter's Chaldean
Seminary building is located across the street. End note.)
Bishop Wardoni, who had visited the facility with Emboffs on
April 4, provided comments throughout the presentation (ref
C). The Bishop and the Patriarch raised no complaints about
the condition of the college and said they would report the
outcome of the meeting to Monsignor Philip Najim, the
Patriarch's representative in Rome.

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COMMENT
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7. (S) Post will continue to coordinate meetings between
Chaldean and MNF-I representatives to resolve issues arising
from the presence of CF in the Babel College of Philosophy
and Theology and the security situation in Doura. Post will
explore contingency plans to assist the Church in removing
property from the college, should the need arise. END
COMMENT.
CROCKER