AMBASSADOR CALLS ON AL-HAKIM ON HIS RETURN FROM

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 002515

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/29/2017
TAGS: IZ PGOV PINS PREL
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR CALLS ON AL-HAKIM ON HIS RETURN FROM
TEHRAN

Classified By: Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

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Tawafuq's Potential Withdrawal
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1. (C) ISCI chairman Abdulaziz al-Hakim, who returned on
July 24 from chemotherapy treatment in Tehran, told the
Ambassador on July 26 that he had urged Vice President Tarik
al-Hashemi to work with Tawafuq and members of the UIC to
find a solution to Tawafuq's potential withdrawal from the
government. Al-Hakim said that al-Hashemi had told him that
he (al-Hashemi) understood that "we have to live together."
Noting the sensitivities between al-Hashemi and Prime
Minister Nuri al-Maliki, al-Hakim said that UIC leaders such
as Vice President Adel Abdul Mehdi and leading ISCI member
Humam Hamoudi should discuss Tawafuq's concerns with its
leaders. Then the UIC leaders could talk with Maliki.
According to al-Hakim, who had seen al-Hashemi earlier in the
day and talked with Maliki, Maliki was "ready" to consider
Tawafuq's concerns and sought "practical ways of moving
forward."


2. (C) Hamoudi, also present, offered his analysis of
Tawafuq's move, noting that it fit the Sunni leaders' pattern
of causing a new crisis after the latest one was solved. He
questioned whether Sunni leaders wanted the new Iraq to
succeed. While acknowledging that he had doubts about the
commitment of certain Sunni leaders such as Khalaf al-Ollayan
to the new Iraq, the Ambassador shared his belief that
al-Hashemi was a serious leader whose concerns merited
serious consideration. Noting that human rights was one of
al-Hashemi's concerns, Al-Hakim agreed that "we all want to
respect human rights" but argued that, in the midst of Iraq's
war against terrorism, "it is hard to have appropriate
prisons for all detainees. But we need to find a way to give
them (Tawafuq) something they are looking for."

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"Sherpas" Meetings
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3. (C) Hamoudi said that the "sherpas" meetings (meetings of
key advisors before a potential leadership summit meeting)
were proceeding well, with the group meeting daily and
working to define differences between the various blocs on
key issues. The only Kurdish Alliance and Tawafuq
participants were (respectively) Barham Salih and Ayad
al-Samarai'e, he said. Asked about CoR Speaker Mahmoud
Mashhadani, Hamoudi said that the UIC had agreed not to press
the issue during the current CoR term (which ends July 31).
"We don't need another crisis now," he observed. The
Ambassador agreed, but also offered his opinion that the only
true solution to Mashhadani would be to have him replaced.

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Al-Hakim's Health and Travel Plans
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4. (C) Al-Hakim did not shake hands but showed normal energy
and engagement during the meeting. His face was jaundiced
and he had lost his beard and moustache. He said his
treatment was going well and that he planned to return to
Tehran "in a week to ten days" for the next round of
chemotherapy.

CROCKER