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. -------------- -------------- PATRIARCH: CHURCH CONSENT ON COP EXTENSION MUST REMAIN SECRET -------------- -------------- ¶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.) -------------- -------------- SECURITY, PROPERTY DAMAGE CONCERNS BEHIND EXTENSION -------------- -------------- ¶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. -------------- 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. -------------- 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. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶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