PRT-WASIT: GOI'S PROVINCIAL TRIBAL LIAISON MAKES

S E C R E T BAGHDAD 002703

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/13/2017
TAGS: PGOV PINS IZ
SUBJECT: PRT-WASIT: GOI'S PROVINCIAL TRIBAL LIAISON MAKES
RECOMEMDATIONS REGARDING WASIT SECURITY SITUATION


Classified By: PRT Wasit Team Leader Wade Weems for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).



1. (S/NF) Summary. On 10 August FOB Delta Commander and
embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team (ePRT) Iraq
Provincial Action Officer (IPAO) met with LTC Falih Hassan
Nasir (protect),head of office for the Wasit Directorate of
Tribal Affairs. LTC Falih gave his reasons for the security
problems in the province - an ineffective police chief and
force, Iranian and Sadrist militia influence and poor
economic conditions. He said a CF plan to engage the
Province tribes on security issues would be welcomed by the
sheikhs and had potential to be effective. End summary.


2. (SBU) LTC Falih, a former Al Kut police officer, has
three officers and five IPs under him in the Directorate for
Tribal Affairs. He has offices in the Governor's building
but reports to the Ministry of Interior (MoI). Falih said
his office, the sole GOI authority on tribal issues in the
province, registers details of all the tribes in Wasit. He
noted that most of the districts and sub-districts in Wasit
were controlled by tribes.


3. (SBU) Falih encouraged CF to engage the sheikhs on
security, and recommended a strategy of meeting small groups
of key sheikhs from a specific area. He identified two
Princes and eleven key sheikhs in Wasit and offered to assist
CDR 214th Fires BDE and ePRT with arranging the meetings.


4. (S/NF) Falih noted that one of the reasons security
conditions in Al Kut are bad is because there is no role for
the sheikhs and tribes. Improvements could be made in the
IPs if sheikhs nominated tribesmen to serve, thus,
introducing some accountability into the institution. IP
leadership could approach the appropriate sheikh when an
individual IP was a problem and have the issues resolved at
the tribal level. He said the idea of incorporating the
tribes had been brought up before but PM Maliki rejected it
as he felt Wasit was stable and didn't need the arrangement.


5. (S/NF) When asked about the next Wasit police chief, Falih
said that the interested candidates had until 26 August to
nominate themselves, the Provincial Council will review the
candidates and send three names to the Minister of Interior
for a decision. When pressed on a good candidate, Falih said
MG Abd Al Haninn Hamud Faysal Al Amir, currently at MOI would
be strong and effective. (Note: Haninn was given the post
during the period of the CPA's administration of Wasit. Past
reporting in other channels indicates he was an effective
chief who was known to aggressively enforce the law in a
relatively impartial manner. He was relieved in 2005 after an
ISCI-Badr influenced PC was elected. End note.)


6. (S/NF) Comment. The first meeting with Falih was
encouraging; he was direct and concise in his answers. He
said the right things regarding rule of law and seemed
unusually frank for a first meeting. We plan to meet with
him again and utilize him as part of our tribal engagement
strategy. Additionally, after some cursory research, we
agree that MG Haninn would be the best candidate for the
Wasit Police Chief job - an assessment shared by our US
military colleagues. End comment.
CROCKER