SUNNI INDEPENDENT MP CLAIMS IRAN BEHIND ALL EVLI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002361

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/16/2017
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM IZ
SUBJECT: SUNNI INDEPENDENT MP CLAIMS IRAN BEHIND ALL EVLI

Classified By: Political Counselor Robert Ford for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Independent Sunni Arab parliamentarian
Mithal Alusi told POLOFF on July 14 that in his view, Iran
was funding all sides in the Iraq conflict, saying a
premature U.S. withdrawal will mean the U.S. will have to
fight Iran in Bahrain. He alleged that Saudi Arabia and
Iran were behind the campaign to discredit the draft
hydrocarbon law since they want to hinder Iraqi efforts to
boost oil production and keep world prices up. Saying that
he had seen the investigative file on Culture Minister Asad
al-Hashimi's involvement in his sons' murder, Alusi termed
the evidence substantial. He denied a political motive in
pursuing the charges against the murderers of his two sons.
He called on the U.S. to intervene in shaking up the
current ineffective Iraqi government to bring in qualified
technocrat ministers. With the poor public perception of
the current government, provincial elections would bring
gains for the Sadrist bloc among the Shia and the Hewar
party headed by Saleh Mutlaq among the Sunnis, said Alusi.
END SUMMARY.

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IRAN FUNDING ALL SIDES IN IRAQ
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2. (C) Independent Sunni parliamentarian Mithal Alusi
claimed (offering no evidence) that Iran was funding all
sides in the sectarian struggle in Iraq - the militias, the
insurgency and Al-Qaeda. Saying that Iran wants the U.S.
to lose in Iraq, Alusi termed Iran as the source of all
evil in Iraq and called for a nationalist Iraqi response.
Iraqis are more nationalistic than religious, he claimed.
Commenting on a potential early U.S. military withdrawal
from Iraq and alluding to Iranian designs in the region,
Alusi said the U.S. could either fight Iran in Iraq or
later in Bahrain. An early U.S. withdrawal will ensure
that Iraq becomes a breeding ground for international
terrorism, he concluded.

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HYDROCARBONS LAW NEEDS TO BE SOLD TO THE PUBLIC
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3. (C) Claiming that oil interests in Saudi Arabia and Iran
are behind the successful efforts to discredit the
hydrocarbon law with the Iraqi public, Alusi said that the
Iraqi government must engage in an immediate public
relations campaign to highlight that the law is in Iraq's
interest. The neighboring oil producing states fear that a
large increase in Iraqi oil production will depress oil
prices and diminish their influence in the region. The PR
campaign should appeal to Iraqi nationalism and include
charges that it was Iraq's neighbors who were behind the
smear campaign against it, he stated. (Comment: The
acting Speaker of the Parliament, Shia Islamist Khalid
Attiyeh also claimed to us on July 15 that Saudi interests
were helping the Iraqi groups denouncing the oil law. End
Comment.)

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CASE AGAINST CULTURE MINISTER SOLID
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4. (C) Alusi told POLOFF that he had seen the evidence
against Culture Minister Asad al-Hashimi and that it was
significant. He said al-Hashimi was implicated in other
murders, not just those of Alusi's two sons during a
botched assassination attempt in 2005 for which al-Hashimi
was charged. Downplaying claims that the confessions of
the alleged killers were obtained through torture and
therefore unreliable, Alusi said the killers divulged
details about the crime not generally known. Alusi said he
asked Prime Minister Maliki to stay out of the case and let
the judicial process continue without interference. This
is not a political case, said Alusi, citing Maliki's
release of Adnan Dulaymi's son when he was stopped at the
Baghdad airport and the suppression by Maliki of other
arrest warrants against prominent Sunnis. He claimed that
Tawafuq leader Vice President Tarik al-Hashimi is
attempting to quash the arrest warrant and investigation of
the Culture Minister.

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GOVERNMENT NEEDS SHAKE UP - U.S. SHOULD INTERVENE
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5. (C) Alusi claimed he is in contact with both Prime
Minister Maliki and Vice President Adel Abdel Mehdi about
the need for a government shake-up. He called for the
political leaders to designate 12 ministries as reserved
for non-political technocrats. Poloff, commenting that

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getting the political leadership to agree to any names was
difficult in the past, asked if Alusi had any proposed
names or a mechanism for reaching a political agreement on
ministerial changes. Alusi responded that U.S. should lead
this effort to protect its own interests.

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NEW ELECTIONS WOULD STRENGTHEN SADR AND MUTLAK
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6. (C) In the current political environment, the Sadrists
and Sunni nationalist firebrand Saleh Mutlak would see
large potential gains in provincial elections, according to
Alusi. Despite the recent boycott of Cabinet meetings, the
Tawafuq participation in government and inability to
produce results for their constituency has lowered their
standing with the Sunni population, he opined. With
increased sectarian tensions, Mutlak, who as head of the
Hewar political party did not join the government and has
been consistent in his criticism of the sectarian basis on
which it was formed, would likely benefit at the cost of
the Tawafuq and the Iraqi Islamic Party, according to
Alusi. The Sadrists grass roots appeal and Iraqi
nationalism give them an edge over established Shia parties
like Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI formerly SCIRI)
and Da'wa, whose leaders are too close to Iran, said Alusi.

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Comment
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7. (C) Alusi is a well connected with a wide following
among the diminishing Baghdad intelligentsia and
traditional elite. He still has a weekly political salon -
a reminder of an older era of Iraqi (and Arab) politics.
Alusi heads his own political party and is its only elected
member of the Council of Representatives. Within Sunni
Arab political circles, he is one of the least sectarian
politicians and therefore has a certain respect among Shia
and Kurdish political circles. His assessment that Shia
and Sunni hardliners stand to gain from new elections is
particularly interesting, as they would be his direct
competition. Alusi's pushing the case of the Culture
Minister, and the government's follow-up, has provided the
immediate pretext for the Tawaffuq ministers' boycott of
the cabinet. There are negotiations underway to find a
compromise. End comment.
CROCKER