PRT-WASIT: AL KUT REPORTER KIDNAPPED, BEATEN, AND

S E C R E T BAGHDAD 002908

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/30/2017
TAGS: PGOV IZ
SUBJECT: PRT-WASIT: AL KUT REPORTER KIDNAPPED, BEATEN, AND
RELEASED- CULPRIT AND MOTIVE IS UNCLEAR

Classified By: ePRT Team Leader Wade Weems for reasons 1.4 (b, d).


1. (SBU) Summary. On 6 August, Hassan Shaheed Al-Azzawi, a
journalist for Iraqi national newspaper Al-Sabab and Al Kut
TV, was kidnapped, beaten and held for approximately 36
hours. Al-Azzawi believes the Wasit Governor directed the
abduction, but there is an absence of substantial evidence to
support this claim, only rumors and accusations made by Al
Kut politicians. End Summary.


2. (S) Al-Azzawi told an ePRT local contact that he was
buying bread near his home early on August 6 when four men
wearing Iraqi Army uniforms and driving a government vehicle
detained him, bound his arms and covered his head. Al-Azzawi
said he could not identify the attackers as their faces were
covered. Al-Azzawi said he was driven approximately 15
minutes to a room where he reported being interrogated and
beaten. Al-Azzawi said he was accused of supporting
Al-Qaeda-- a charge he vehemently denied-- and verbally
abused for criticizing the government. (Note: Reporting in
other channels indicates that Jaysh al-Mahdi militants
commonly accuse both Sunni and Shi's enemies of collaboration
with Al Qaeda. End note.) He was dropped off in a
neighborhood in north Al Kut approximately 36 hours after the
abduction.

3. (S) Al-Azzawi is "90 percent sure" he was kidnapped by
forces loyal to Wasit Governor, Abd al-Latif Hamad Tarfah,
because of his work as a journalist. Approximately three
months ago, Al Azzawi wrote an article accusing Gov Latif of
having ties to Al Qaeda and Iranian intelligence. Latif
reportedly sued Al-Azzawi in civil court and the decision is
pending.


4. (S) Additional local contacts have echoed the rumors that
the Governor was behind the incident, including fellow
journalists and government figures. Unsurprisingly, a
Sadrist-linked Provincial Council (PC) member also told ePRT
contact that the Governor was guilty. The Governor, no doubt
aware of the gossip, paid a visit to Al-Azzawi's house but
Al-Azzawi refused to see him. Al-Azzawi has since returned
to work, including covering a joint press conference held by
ePRT and 214th Fires BDE on FOB Delta on August 17.


5. (C) The media establishment in Al Kut is large and active,
but there are few independent outlets -- most have ties to
the government or to a political party. Individual
journalists and journalist union officials tell us that
reporters must constantly be wary of the political impact of
their work, and risk reprisals if a piece is even
tangentially critical of the government, or of any of the
powerful political or militia elements. Even the small
number of independent outlets generally are too frightened to
write provocative, investigative pieces. The governor in
particular takes a keen interest in the media, especially
coverage of himself. He recently criticized one station for
showing women in western attire, saying it was unnecessarily
lewd. He often commands Al Kut TV reporters to accompany him
constantly and cover his role in even the most mundane
government functions.


6. (S) Comment: Given the number of rumors that the Governor
was responsible for the kidnapping of Al-Azzawi, and his
proven interest in and sensitivity to media reporting about
him, it is certainly plausible that he was involved. However,
the intra-Shi'a rivalries in Al Kut make for a cloudy
political picture and it is possible that elements not
affiliated with the Governor, such as JAM splinter groups,
were responsible. Although political maneuvering between
Badr/ISCI and Sadrist elements continues at the provincial
and city level, there have been no further developments in
the Al-Azzawi incident since August 14.
CROCKER