AMB. SATTERFIELD PRESSES COR LEADERS ON PENDING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 003692

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/08/2017
TAGS: PGOV IZ
SUBJECT: AMB. SATTERFIELD PRESSES COR LEADERS ON PENDING
LEGISLATION

Classified By: Political Counselor Matt Tueller for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (C) Summary: In November 6 meetings, CoR Deputy Speakers
Khalid al-Attiyah and Arif Tayfur and influential CoR member
Humam Hamoudi told Amb. Satterfield that progress on key
pending
legislation remained possible during the current CoR session.

Attiyah and Hamoudi agreed that, among pending draft bills,
passage of the De-Baathification Law appeared the most likely
and progress on the Hydrocarbons Framework Law (HCL) seemed
least likely due to Kurdish opposition, while Kurdish leader
Tayfur claimed that only Tawafuq opposes the HCL draft but
CoR
Speaker Mashhadani and Attiyah do not want to put it on the
agenda because they do not yet have consensus. With all
interlocutors, Amb. Satterfield underscored intense USG
interest
in CoR enactment of pending legislation, and he urged the CoR
leaders to redouble their efforts to ensure legislative
progress
before the CoR adjourns. End Summary.

Meeting with Deputy Speaker Attiyah
--------------


2. (C) Attiyah dismissed the possibility of Sadrists delaying
legislation within committees, saying that the COR Presidency
Council has the authority to place draft laws on the agenda
at
any time. He predicted that De-Baathification, Hydrocarbons,
and Provincial Powers could all be passed before the end of
the
current parliamentary session in December. He blamed the
Kurdish bloc for delaying the oil law and said the Kurds
needed
to understand that all Iraqis would benefit from the law's
passage. Attiyah reserved most of his blame for Tareq al-
Hashemi, calling him 'radical' and saying that even Iraqi
Islamic Party (IIP) members criticized Hashimi for vetoing 21
out of 23 laws passed by the COR.


3. (C) Attiyah said the so-called "Leaders' Draft" of the De-
Baathification Law (the text that reflects agreement among
Iraq's top leader and, in our assessment, appears balanced
and
reasonable) would be easier to pass than the only version
already approved by the Council of Ministers and formally
submitted to the CoR, the so-called "Council of Ministers
Draft," because it already enjoyed the agreement of the bloc
leaders. He recommended that the Leaders' Draft be submitted
to
the Council of Ministers and then the COR.


4. (C) Turning to Provincial Powers, Attiyah said that Sunni
and
Shia views on the law evolved over the past few months. He
noted broad consensus for limiting provincial authorities
during
an introductory period and then later developing the proper
distribution of authority. He pointed to the Basrah governor
as
an example of the misuse of authority likely if provinces are
given power too quickly. Attiyah added that the marja'eeya
are
particularly concerned about provincial control over police
and
military forces and key administrative positions.

Meeting with Deputy Speaker Tayfur
--------------


5. (C) Tayfur explained that the Sadrists and CoR Speaker
Mashhadani are the only ones that disagree with the Leaders'
Draft, adding that the Council of Ministers Draft is stuck in
the legal committee and being blocked by the Sadrists.
Turning
to the Hydrocarbons Framework Law, Tayfur said that only
Tawafuq
opposes the draft but Mashhadani and Attiyah do not want to
put
it on the agenda because they do not yet have consensus. On
Provincial Powers, Tayfur said it was stalled by squabbling
within the Shia and Sunni blocs and opposition from Hashimi.
He
added, "each part of the bloc is looking to maximize its own
gains and is not negotiating based on what is good for the
people." Tayfur concluded by saying the only concern of the
Kurds is that Kirkuk be preserved and able to join the KRG.


6. (C) Tayfur criticized Hashemi for generally disagreeing

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with
everything inside the CoR and using his bloc to block
progress.
As an example he described a law that would make it easier
for
Wafideen Arabs to return to their original homes from Kirkuk,
but Hashemi is blocking it.


7. (C) Tayfur said the PKK issue should be solved by
diplomatic
means. "I have personally fought alongside Turkey in the
mountains against the PKK and it is a fruitless endeavor," he
said. Tayfur said the Kurds disagree with the actions of the
PKK and are only concerned with protecting the KRG. He
claimed
that KRG President Masood Barzani had taken action against
them,
including opening up checkpoints to block their movements and
supply lines, and cited news reports of the PKK moving across
the border to Iran because of the crackdown as evidence.
Satterfield assured him that POTUS made it clear to Turkish
Prime Minister Erdogan on November 5 that the US would only
accept action against the PKK, not against the KRG or KRG
infrastructure, but emphasized the necessity of action from
the
KRG.

Meeting with ISCI's Humam Hamoudi
--------------


8. (C) Humam Hamoudi, floor leader of Islamic Supreme Council
of
Iraq (ISCI) CoR bloc, claimed there were "no major problems"
standing in the way of the De-Baathification Reform and
Provincial Powers Laws. He praised the Leaders' Draft, which
he
said was written by fellow ISCI CoR member (and Badr militia
leader) Hadi al-Amri, as a balanced text that incorporated
positive points from the competing Council of Ministers
Draft.
Although "De-Baathification" in practice is occurring in Iraq
on
a regular basis with many former Baath officials holding GOI
jobs, he asserted, a formal De-Baathification law remains
sensitive among Iraq's political class and no one wants to
take
the risk of leading on this highly symbolic bill. Therefore,
he
advised the USG to pressure Mashaddani and Attiyah to move
the
bill forward and predicted that it would eventually "overcome
obstacles" and be enacted. He expressed doubt that the CoR
Legal or De-Baathification Committees (both headed by
Sadrists)
would prevent the bill from going forward. He stated that he
takes little personal interest in this particular law.


9. (C) With regard to the Provincial Powers Law, Humam
identified the major sticking point as a dispute between the
GOI
and the CoR over the right to appoint provincial governors
and
senior provincial government officials, with the GOI and
Prime
Minister Maliki seeking to retain the right. Humam said he
favored an approach adapted from the CPA era in which
provinces
would forward three nominees for each top provincial post and
the central government could choose among them. He remarked
cynically that central government control is the only thing
that
Maliki and Vice President al-Hashemi agree on, and that
perhaps Hashemi wants to retain GOI centrality in hopes of
someday wielding such power as prime minister. Humam
complained
that Hashemi had unjustly exercised unofficial veto power by
refusing to sign 21 out of 23 laws passed by the CoR. On the
Hydrocarbons Framework Law (from Humam's perspective, by far
the
most important pending bill),he said the proposed law
drafted
last February is a good law but that the Kurds are holding it
up
on constitutional interpretation grounds and disputes over
the
law's application to future oil and gas finds.


10. (C) In subsequent meetings with DPM Barham Saleh and FM
Hoshyar Zebari, it was made clear that of all the key pending
legislation, hydrocarbons (framework and revenue management
system laws) and De-Ba'ath (Justice and Accountability Law)
were

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the only measures within reach for passage at any point in
the
immediate future. Both believed Maliki had no interest in
seeing any version of De-Ba'ath pass, whether the COM version
now before the COR or the "leaders version" which received
the
ostensible August 26 blessing of Maliki, Talabani, Barzani,
al-
Hashemi and Abd al-Mahdi. Maliki told Ambassadors Crocker
and
Satterfield November 7 that on November 13 the COM would vote
on
whether to recall the version of De-Ba'ath reform now before
the
COM and whether to send the leaders version in its place. We
will seek to determine this latest spin to reality; if such a
vote is in fact scheduled, we will work COM contacts to press
for action on the leaders text.
CROCKER