THE AMBASSADOR'S DECEMBER 29 MEETINGS WITH COR

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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

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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