PERSONAL FEUD DELAYS DE-BA'ATH IN COR

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 003765

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/14/2017
TAGS: PGOV IZ
SUBJECT: PERSONAL FEUD DELAYS DE-BA'ATH IN COR

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


1. (C) SUMMARY: The Council of Ministers passed a copy of
the "Leaders' Draft" de-Ba'athification law to the Council of
Representatives on November 14th. A meeting the same day
between COR Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani and Deputy Speaker
Shaykh Khalid al-Attiyah degenerated into a shouting match
and resulted in the first reading of the draft law being
postponed. Attiyah believes opponents of the law want to
derail any governmental progress while Mashhadani's staff say
he supports the draft but opposes procedural violations
committed by Attiyah. Despite the dramatic clash, there
appears to be support for the leaders' draft and several
sources say the first reading of the law may occur as early
as November 17th. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) On November 14th the Council of Ministers, responding
to pressure from the PM's office, passed a copy of the
"Leaders' Draft" de-Ba'athification law to the Council of
Representatives. The draft included a cover page dated
November 14th with the signatures of 21 ministers from the
COM. On the same day Mashhadani and Attiyah held their
weekly meeting with the chairs of the COR's permanent
committees. By all accounts a discussion on placing the
first reading of the draft on the November 15th agenda
quickly degenerated into a shouting match between Attiyah and
Mashhadani, with both politicians trading personal insults
and eventually storming out of the room. Afterwards the COR
administration removed the draft law from the agenda.


3. (C) Immediately after the aborted meeting a visibly upset
Attiyah met with Poloff. Eyes watering and face flushed, he
said Mashhadani had accused him of conspiring with the
Americans and Maliki administration to improperly push the
legislation through the COR. Attiyah said the Sadr Trend and
Tawafuq Bloc oppose the legislation not because of any
objections to the draft itself, but because they want to
derail any legislative progress. "I cannot work with him any
longer," Attiyah said of Mashhadani. At the end of the
meeting he asked for a meeting with the Ambassador to express
his concerns (Note: The Ambassador will meet with Attiyah on
November 16th. End Note).


4. (C) Mashhadani's son and chief of staff, Abd Al Bassit,
said the speaker objected to Attiyah's violations of the
COR's internal laws. He explained that Attiyah received the
draft and put it on the agenda for November 15th without
consulting Mashhadani, a move he compared to the
controversial nominations of the ministers of agriculture and
health during Mashhandani's absence on October 30th. Bassit
added that Mashaddani had no problem with the draft itself,
saying it now had been given to the appropriate committees
and could have a first reading by November 17th (Note: In a
separate meeting held the same day, Tawafuq MP Ala Makki Abd
al-Razzaq said Tawafuq supported the "Leaders' Draft" and
also predicted a first reading on November 17th. End Note).
In a meeting later on November 14 with the Ambassador, Vice
President Adel Abdel Mehdi crowed about Maliki's success in
moving the Leaders' Draft through the Council of Ministers
and to the COR. The Ambassador urged Adel that he and the
other top GOI leaders to maintain momentum by working with
their respective party COR bloc leaders to ensure COR
ratification.


5. (C) COMMENT: Atmospherics aside, the "Leaders' Draft"
appears to enjoy support among most political bloc leaders
and MPs. If this support holds, the dispute may only
represent a temporary delay in progress of the draft through
the COR. Despite claims to the contrary, Attiyah and
Mashhadani's dispute is more personal than professional and
only the latest in a series of public feuds between the two
leaders. It illustrates the potential of personal
animosities combining with the institutional weaknesses of
Iraq's legislative process to further delay political
progress. END COMMENT.
CROCKER