HUMMAM HAMMOUDI DISCUSSES LEGISLATIVE AGENDA FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 004219

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/30/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV IZ
SUBJECT: HUMMAM HAMMOUDI DISCUSSES LEGISLATIVE AGENDA FOR
NEW YEAR AND VIEWS ON KRG-IIP AGREEMENT

REF: A. BAGHDAD 3459


B. BAGHDAD 4193

Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Robert Waller for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d)


1. (C) Hummam Hammoudi, ISCI's deputy bloc leader, confirmed
on December 27 that ISCI would vote in favor of the
de-Ba'athification law. "We wrote it, so how could we not
support it?" Hammoudi chuckled. Hammoudi said there was no
chance that either the Fadhila or Sadrist blocs would support
the law, but said that there would be sufficient votes to
pass it despite their opposition. He was also optimistic a
compromise on competing drafts of the Provincial Powers law
would be reached soon between the party blocs -- indeed, he
claimed that the last two or three points of contention would
have already been ironed out if not for the hajj/eid break.
Hammoudi predicted that a draft elections law would soon be
approved by the Council of Ministers and referred to the
Council of Representatives; he further predicted that new
provincial elections would be held during the last four
months of 2008. He complained that the International High
Electoral Commission has been politicized by various
political parties (e.g., the Sadrists),and noted that Sheikh
Ahmed Abu Risha recently told him that he was almost ready to
burn down an IHEC office in Anbar province that he claimed
was under IIP control.


2. (C) Regarding the December 24 agreement between the KRG
and IIP to cooperate on measures related to national
reconciliation, Hammoudi assessed that the Kurds got the best
end of the deal, that the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) had
achieved a partial victory, and that the deal was neutral so
far as the GOI was concerned (Hammoudi said that the
agreement could turn out to be a boon or a burden for the
GOI, adding "but anything that puts pressure on Maliki is
good.") Hammoudi said the deal should be seen as a step
towards splitting IIP away from other elements of Tawafuq and
into the Group of Four (ISCI, Dawa, PUK, KDP) bloc. On a
different topic, Hammoudi said he was ready to assist in
reviving the Preparatory Group (i.e., the political deputies
of the five major parties) and said it would be useful if the
Ambassador and S/I Satterfield were present to keep the
deputies focused on the legislative agenda.

CROCKER