IRAQ EXECUTIVE STEERING COMMITTEE, NOV 16

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 003809

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2017
TAGS: PGOV ECON MOPS IZ
SUBJECT: IRAQ EXECUTIVE STEERING COMMITTEE, NOV 16


Classified By: Economic Minister Counselor Charles P. Ries for reasons
1.4(b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki proposed
creation of a committee to handle issues related to
internally displaced persons at the November 16 Iraq
Executive Steering Committee (I-ESC),though he did not
specify the committee's structure or purpose. He also noted
that the improved security situation in Baghdad has rendered
many T-walls, checkpoints and barricades unnecessary, and
instructed General Aboud, Commander of the Baghdad Operations
Center (BOC),to remove these obstructions, where possible,
without jeopardizing security. Minister of Electricity Karim
Wahid Al-Hasan reported that his ministry will coordinate
with the BOC to eliminate militia control of 27 electricity
sub-stations in Baghdad. Ahmed Chalabi proposed the creation
of two "emergency" centers to provide essential services in
areas of Baghdad that urgently need support, and provided
recommended solutions to three health-related problems facing
the province. Chalabi and National Security Advisor Muwafak
al-Rubeiy explained how corruption undermines the Public
Distribution System (PDS). Minister of Oil Husayn
Al-Shahristani said that the Ministry of Oil (MoO) will begin
November 25 to deliver by railroad one million liters of
petroleum products per day from Basrah to Baghdad. Finally,
the Prime Minister decided to hasten repairs to the Mosul
Road Bridge that crosses the Grand Canal north of Baghdad and
ordered workers to stop work on the its temporary
replacement. END SUMMARY.

-------------- --------------
"No Peace in Baghdad" While Families Remain Displaced
-------------- --------------


2. (C) Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki called for a committee
to examine issues related to internally displaced persons
(IDPs). (NOTE: The Prime Minister did not explain his view
of the committee's composition or purpose, or describe how it
would relate to other committees currently working on the
same issue. At the November 18 I-ESC Deputies meeting, Sayid
Jabor of the I-ESC Secretariat gave meeting participants one
week to devise solutions to the problems posed by IDP returns
to Baghdad. END NOTE.) I-ESC Services Working Group
Chairman Ahmed Chalabi stated that there can be no peace in
Baghdad while families remain displaced. To illustrate his
point, Chalabi described the complex situation for families
displaced from the rural Sa'ab Al Bor neighborhood to the
central Hurriya neighborhood. Allegedly, militants in
Hurriya will not allow IDPs living there return to their
homes in Sa'ab Al Bor, because the militants would lose the
rent payments they collect from the Sa'ab Al Bor IDPs
currently living in Hurriya. The Prime Minister remarked
that some of the IDPs from Sa'ab Al Bor who currently reside
in Hurriya may wish to stay there since they now live closer
to their jobs in the city center.

-------------- --------------
Countering Militia Control of Electricity Sub-Stations
-------------- --------------


3. (C) Minister of Electricity Karim Wahid Al-Hasan reported
that armed militias maintain control of many power
sub-stations in Baghdad. He described the difficulties faced
by his crews when they attempt to conduct repair work.
"Sometimes," he said, "I have to put up walls just to protect
my repair teams." He said that his ministry will coordinate
with the Baghdad Operations Center (BOC) to regain control
from militias of 27 sub-stations on the Rusafa and Karkh
sides of the river.

-------------- --
Signs of Improved Security: Increase in Traffic
Jams, Removal of T-Walls and Checkpoints
-------------- --


4. (C) The Prime Minister said that the improved security
situation in Baghdad has obviated the need for many T-walls
and barricades. He instructed General Aboud, Commander of
the BOC, to use his judgment to balance two competing
priorities: maintaining security and easing traffic
congestion. Aboud responded that the BOC started November 16
a trial period by removing some of the T-walls surrounding
Abu Nuwas Street, a historic market area along the Tigris
River in Rusafa district. Aboud said that he hoped to open
Abu Nuwas street completely by the end of November. Aboud
also informed the Prime Minister that the removal of T-walls
and barriers may take time, as the BOC and the Baghdad
traffic police have limited access to the equipment required
to remove T-walls. The Chief of Staff of the Ministry of
Defense asked that the Iraqi Police finish installing the
CCTV network in Baghdad before the BOC removes all of the
T-walls.


BAGHDAD 00003809 002 OF 003



5. (C) Abud also discussed the removal of checkpoints. By
the next I-ESC meeting, he said, the BOC will have a plan in
place to remove T-walls, barriers, and checkpoints from 11
main roads in Baghdad. To facilitate the removal of
checkpoints throughout the province, the BOC plans to
establish a three-tiered classification system for
checkpoints, based on the security environment and traffic
congestion in the area that each checkpoint currently
controls.

--------------
Essential Service Emergency Centers
--------------


6. (C) Chalabi said that his Services Working Group would
like to create two "emergency" centers in Karkh and Rusafa,
respectively, to provide essential services in areas of
Baghdad that urgently need support. Chalabi and Mayor Saber
al-Esawi proposed a number of other ideas for improving
services, including the return of night-shift maintenance in
the city, and the use of trucks and truck drivers available
from all ministries to carry out municipal work, instead of
the Amanat spending an estimated 2.6 million ID per day to
rent trucks and hire private contractors.

-------------- --------------
Health Clinics, Life-Saving Drugs, and MoD Hospitals
-------------- --------------


7. (C) Chalabi said that his Services Committee developed
three health-related recommendations. Firstly, he proposed
that the Ministry of Health provide emergency services
"around the clock" at 72 clinics in Baghdad by paying
employees overtime to keep the clinics open. Secondly,
Chalabi cited significant medicine shortages throughout
Baghdad, claiming that only 35 percent of life-saving drugs
remain available in the province, and blamed corruption for
this problem. He proposed, as a solution, that the Ministry
of Health adopt a popular United Nations medicine procurement
system. This system could increase transparency and
efficiency while reducing corruption, Chalabi claimed. In
his final health-related recommendation, Chalabi proposed
that the Al Karkh Hospital exclusively serve the armed
forces, including all soldiers and police officers employed,
respectively, by the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of
Interior. The Ministry of Defense, Chalabi said, would
operate the hospital.

--------------
PDS Food Shortages Caused by Corruption
and Distribution Problems
--------------


8. (C) Chalabi and National Security Advisor Muwafak
al-Rubeiy reported that corruption undermines the Public
Distribution System (PDS). Rubeiy said that the Ministry of
Trade has issued 29 million food ration cards, even though
far fewer people currently reside in Iraq; many people living
abroad sell their ration cards to local residents, Rubeiy
alleged. The PDS also provides sub-standard rations, Chalabi
and Rubeiy complained, deriding the goods' low quality.
Baghdad residents have begun to raise the issue with members
of the Council of Representatives, Rubeiy said. Minister of
Trade Abdal Falah Al-Sudani said that distribution rather
than supply problems cause food shortages such as rice and
wheat. The Prime Minister noted that wealthier Iraqis
earning over 700,000 ID should not receive rations. "I don't
receive my ration," the Prime Minister said, speculating that
someone had stolen his card. "Who is getting my ration?"

--------------
Petroleum Products to Travel by Rail
--------------


9. (C) Minister of Oil Husayn Al-Shahristani said that the
Ministry of Oil (MoO) will begin November 25 to deliver by
railroad one million liters of petroleum products per day
from Basrah to Baghdad. In addition, he said, MoO will fix
the rail line from Bayji to Doura by December. Shahristani
also reported that the northern areas of Kirkuk and the
Kurdish region have already increased their demand for
kerosene, due to colder weather. While noting that MoO
delivered one million liters of kerosene to Baghdad during
the first half of November, Shahristani said that Baghdad
will need to receive two million liters per day in the second
half of the month.

--------------
Scrap the New Bridge - Repair the Old One
--------------


10. (C) The Prime Minister decided to hasten repairs to the
Mosul Road (Highway One) Bridge that crosses the Grand Canal

BAGHDAD 00003809 003 OF 003


north of Baghdad. Because of the strategic significance of
the bridge's location, the Amanat and other ministries had
begun to install a temporary bridge adjacent to the Mosul
Bridge in order to allow traffic flows to continue while
workmen repaired it. The temporary bridge, however, had
started to restrict the water flow necessary for winter
irrigation. The Prime Minister ordered workers to stop
building the temporary bridge, remove it, and focus their
efforts on rebuilding the original bridge.
CROCKER