THE AMBASSADOR'S DECEMBER 29 MEETINGS WITH COR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 004226 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/30/2017 TAGS: IZ PGOV PINR PINS PREL SUBJECT: THE AMBASSADOR'S DECEMBER 29 MEETINGS WITH COR SPEAKER MASHADANI AND DEPUTY SPEAKER AL-ATTIYA Classified By: Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: The Ambassador met separately on December 29 with Council of Representatives (COR) Speaker Mahmoud Mashadani and First Deputy Speaker Sheikh Khaled Al-Attiya. Both said that the COR would reconvene as scheduled on December 30, although Sheikh Khaled questioned whether it was worth the effort given that the parliament almost certainly would be unable to muster a quorum. The Ambassador pushed back strongly, emphasizing that it was important for the COR to do what it said it was going to do. He also stressed to both Iraqi leaders that it was time for the COR to take up and pass the Accountability and Justice law before finalizing the budget, and then to focus on getting the Provincial Powers law finished before May. Mashadani said that the votes are not there yet to pass the Accountability and Justice bill and claimed additional work was necessary to guarantee the bill's passage. Mashadani was sharply critical of the "trilateral" December 24 agreement among President Talabani, KRG President Barzani and Vice-President Hashimi. Sheikh Khalid lamented the lack of a sense of responsibility among some COR members, and acknowledged growing public frustration with the COR's fecklessness. End summary. Speaker Mashadani -------------- ¶2. (C) In a December 29 meeting with the Ambassador, COR Speaker Mahmoud Mashadani said that he is reconvening the COR as scheduled on the 30th in order to get members back to Baghdad -- and to their jobs. While he did not expect a quorum at the December 30 session, he predicted a quorum would be established early in the New Year. Mashadani claimed the Accountability and Justice bill does not have the votes to pass and said additional work must be done among the blocs before it is brought to a vote. The Ambassador pointed to the improved security situation as an opportunity for the COR to raise public confidence in the government by passing legislation that will promote reconciliation. He particularly underscored the importance of enacting the Accountability and Justice law. Mashadani did not appear suffused with optimism: he claimed that some members did not like the law, others wanted to send it back to the Shura Council, and finally accused "some Kurds" of having "two faces" on the issue. He said it was also important for the COR to deal with the budget, intimating that the budget should take priority. The Ambassador made it clear that the Accountability draft should take priority over finalizing the budget to ensure the CoR does not recess immediately after passage of the budget per its internal procedures. Mashadani reiterated that additional legwork must be done in order to line up the necessary votes; this, he said, is something that cannot be postponed and must be dealt with. On other legislation, Mashadani said that the Provincial Powers law and the elections law are priorities; Provincial Powers must be enacted soon or there will be problems, especially in Diyala and Mosul (which he termed "restive"). ¶3. (C) Mashadani criticized the "trilateral" document President Talabani, DPM Hashemi, and KRG President Barzani signed on December 24, an agreement that Mashadani called a "time bomb" that could throw the legislative agenda off course. He accused Talabani of acting as a Kurd rather than as the President of Iraq. Mashadani boasted (somewhat improbably) that as Speaker of the COR, he seeks to represent all Iraqis. He claimed to have told Talabani that he should behave in the same way. Mashadani also criticized Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, saying that he is acting on his own and not representing Tawafuq. "We helped him, yet he is using his position not to serve as a good leader but rather to promote his own personal interests. Hashimi's Islamic Party is increasingly isolated," Mashadani claimed, before asking plaintively why a Sunni/Shia agreement could not have been reached among the Arabs first and then presented to the Kurds. Deputy Speaker Al-Attiya -------------- ¶4. (C) In a separate meeting the same day with the COR's First Deputy Speaker, Sheikh Khalid Attiya, Sheikh Khalid also predicted that the COR would resume as scheduled on December 30 although, like Mashadani, he doubted that a quorum would be established. Sheikh Khalid questioned whether, under those circumstances, it was worth holding the session at all, and noted that he had received a request from the Kurdish bloc to postpone the COR's resumption until January 3. The Ambassador pushed back strongly, stressing that it was important for the COR's leadership to follow through on its public commitments by reconvening as scheduled. He also emphasized the importance of passing the Accountability and Justice law, saying that now is the time BAGHDAD 00004226 002 OF 002 for COR members to play a decisive role by passing the legislation Iraq needs for national reconciliation, while also pushing ahead on economic development and the provision of services. ¶5. (C) Sheikh Khalid lamented that some COR members failed to take their responsibilities seriously; as a result, the Iraqi public had lost patience with what it saw as feckless parliamentarians. Nonetheless, Sheikh Khalid said he was optimistic that 2008 would see better security conditions and a degree of social rapprochement. He said Iraq had taken major punches but had remained standing. Recalling a recent trip to Karbala, he described a much improved situation there, with less violence and improved services. He said that what had been in the control of the militias is now in the hands of the government. ¶6. (C) Sheikh Khalid expressed concern about cuts in the ration card system, which he said are causing additional hardship at a time of great unemployment. He added that most Iraqis oppose these cuts. He also spoke about the lack of educational and employment opportunities for youths, a lack that feeds the extremists' ranks. The Ambassador agreed that employment opportunities must be provided, and said that $150 million dollars allocated by the Iraqi Finance Ministry for jobs creation would be matched by the USG. In addition, U/S Jeffrey will be coming to Iraq soon to assist with economic matters, and the UN has begun playing a larger role in economic issues. ¶7. (C) Sheikh Khalid noted that in March there will be a conference of regional parliamentarians in Erbil. However, he said the Egyptian delegation would be reluctant to attend if the Iraqi flag were not flying. KRG President Barzani appeared willing to put up the flag, but it was not a simple issue for the Kurds. The Ambassador observed that the Arabs' absence would ill serve Iraq. Sheikh Khalid agreed, and said he had asked the Egyptians to increase their presence and strengthen the relationship with Iraq. He told them that their fear of Iraq being controlled by Iran is unfounded. "The Arabs have to help and support us," he concluded. CROCKER