NATIONAL POLICE DETAINED FOR SUNNI MOSQUE BOMBING

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 001915

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

CONFIDENTIAL/REL MNF-I

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/14/2017
TAGS: MOPS MCAP PHUM PGOV PTER PINS PNAT IZ
SUBJECT: NATIONAL POLICE DETAINED FOR SUNNI MOSQUE BOMBING

Classified By: A/POL-MIL COUNSELOR APAR SIDHU FOR REASONS 1.4 (A/B/D)


1. (C/REL MNF-I) SUMMARY. On June 9, Iraqi Security Forces
detained two National Police commanders for possible
involvement in the June 8 bombing that damaged the Sunni Al
Fattah Pasha mosque in Baghdad,s Al Bayya neighborhood. The
bombing follows two recent high profile cases of sectarian
attacks against Sunnis allegedly involving the National
Police in West Rashid. This mosque attack also comes after a
week of calls from Sunni leaders -- such as Vice President
Hashimi and Deputy Prime Minister Zubaie -- to the Prime
Minister and Iraqi Coalition leaders complaining of
intensifying danger in the largely Sunni enclave of West
Rashid,s Al Bayya and Al Amil. END SUMMARY.

West Rashid,s Al Bayya Security
--------------


2. (C/REL MNF-I) Al Bayya is a predominantly Sunni area
located in the West Rashid District. It has experienced high
levels of violence at the hands of both Jaish al Mahdi (JAM)
militia and Al Qaeda. Under the Fard Al Qanoon security
operation, the Al Bayya area has been patrolled by U.S.
military units, Second Iraqi Army Division battalions
comprised largely of Kurds, and units from the National
Police,s First Division. At the time of the mosque bombing,
the Iraqi army units in al Bayya were being replaced by other
units from the northern-based Second Division and additional
National Police units from the First Division were moving in.


Sunnis Warn of Trouble
--------------


3. (C/REL MNF-I) Sunni leaders including Vice President
Hashimi, Deputy Prime Minister Zubaie and Adnon Dulaimi had
recently made a series of calls to Iraqi government and
military leaders, as well as Coalition and embassy officers,
complaining that security was deteriorating in Al-Bayya and
Al Amil neighborhoods. They attributed an increase in Shia
militia activities to the influx of more National Police and
the rotation out of Kurdish Iraqi Army units. Coalition
leaders emphasized that Iraqi army forces were not being
replaced, but merely rotated, and that the selected National
Police were not, as the Sunnis reported, from the infamous
National Police &Wolf Brigade.8

Detention of National Police Officers
--------------


4. (C/REL MNF-I) Within twenty-four hours of the mosque
bombing, Iraqi security forces detained a platoon and a
company commander of the National Police,s First Battalion,
Third Brigade, First Division. Their forces are responsible
for the security of the mosque. These men remain in Iraqi
custody. The Coalition battalion commander has visited the
area and spoke with about 200 citizens about the situation
since the bombing. He has also met with the National Police
Lieutenant Colonel charged with defending other mosques in
the area and told him that his honor was at stake and he must
protect them.


5. (C/REL MNF-I) The possibility that National Police may
have been complicit in the bombing and the subsequent
detention of National Police officers for questioning, Sunnis
will likely increase their calls for the removal of National
Police units from their communities and continue to argue
that Fard Al Qanoon is failing them.


6. (C/REL MNF-I) COMMENT: Despite our efforts to &reform8
the National Police, the task seems far from complete. We
are encouraged, however, that the Iraqis quickly detained
National Police officers who may have played a role in the Al
Fattah Pasha Sunni mosque bombing. This attack follows two
other high-profile assaults against Sunnis involving the
National Police in West Rashid. In February, members of the
Second Battalion, Third Brigade, First National Police
Division allegedly raped a local woman. In May, Second
Brigade, First National Police Division personnel allegedly
committed extrajudicial killings of civilians while operating
outside their duty area. The Iraqi officers who were
detained in the Al Fattah Pasha mosque bombing were from the
First Battalion, Third Brigade of the same First Division.



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