DA'WA COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES MEMBER URGES USG

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000566

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/18/2017
TAGS: PGOV KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: DA'WA COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES MEMBER URGES USG
ENGAGEMENT IN DE-BA'ATHIFICATION REFORM

Classified by Deputy Polcouns Charles O. Blaha, reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Shiite Dawa Party Council of Representatives
(CoR) member and Deputy of the National Reconciliation
Commission Falih al-Fiyadh discussed key issues before the
CoR with poloffs February 15. Al-Fiyadh urged the USG to
engage Prime Minister Maliki, former PM Jafaari, SCIRI leader
al-Hakim, and the Kurdish leadership on a de-Ba,athification
reform law, insisting that these players' support would
result in CoR passage. Chair of the Committee for the rights
of those affiliated with the army and dissolved entities,
al-Fiyadh confirmed that the committee intends to restore
full pensions to former Iraqi army members to replace the
current small grants. He also briefed poloffs on
cross-sectarian Iraqi efforts to address the dire security
situation in Diyala province, and on provisional elections.
End Summary.

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De-Ba,athification
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2. (C) Al-Fiyadh is aware of the multiple draft
de-Ba,athification laws circulating. He insisted that CoR
passage of de-Ba,athification reform could be accomplished
with the combined support of the PM, former PM and CoR member
Ibrahim al-Jaafari, SCIRI leader Abdulaziz al-Hakim, and the
Kurdish leadership. Given the importance of this issue for
national reconciliation, al-Fiyadh suggests that the U.S.
urge these key leaders to come together in support of a
single compromise draft. (Note: There is no indication that
al-Jaafari is particularly influential in this debate. End
Note).


3. (C) On what reforms should be included, al-Fiyadh
recommended reinstating pensions for former Ba,ath party
members and restricting limitations to security or government
service to the top 4000 or so at the Firqa/Shuaba level, most
of whom he believes have criminal cases against them in any
event (Note: Al-Fiyadh is confusing two different levels of
Ba,ath membership, and his estimates are do not match Higher
National De-Ba,athification Commission (HNDBC) figures. End
note). Those without charges, he continued, should be
treated like ®ular Iraqis8 but banned from key
government positions, at least for several years. On the
HNDBC, al-Fiyadh said that the decisionmaking on this issue
should be transferred from the political realm to the
judiciary -- the future role of the HNDBC might be to hear
complaints and the refer cases to the courts. This concept,
he said, is supported by the Shiite UIA bloc.

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Restoring Pensions for Former Military and Civil Servants
-------------- --------------


4. (C) After de-Ba,athification reform, al-Fiyadh said that
dealing with the Iraqi military is the next most pressing
item for national reconciliation. Chair of the Committee for
the rights of those affiliated with the army and dissolved
entities, al-Fiyadh confirmed the committees' intention to
restore full pensions to former Iraqi army members to replace
the current small grants they currently receive of
approximately $125 per month. He described this group as
ripe for recruitment by foreign intelligence and terrorist
organizations. He described the committees, intention to
notify approximately 250,000 ex-Iraqi military, many living
in self-imposed exile, mostly in Jordan, Egypt and Syria,
that their pensions would soon be reinstated.

--------------
Provisional Elections
--------------


5. (C) Asked about Dawa's strategy for provincial elections,
Al-Fiyadh Hesitated at first but then said that he was
helping Jaafari develop a slate of respected candidates with
a nationalist focus to contest the elections. These
candidates, he said, could be "Islamist or secular, from any
particular current." Al-Fiyadh said that provincial
elections are a good opportunity to reconcile Sunnis through
participation ) some of those who are against the current
national system will then be included in local government.
He speculated that political participation would eventually
lead to the disintegration of militias. On adding a date for
elections to the draft provincial powers law, al-Fiyadh said
that, as a technical matter, setting the date was the purview
of the IECI. However, he continued, the law can say refer to
holding elections "as soon as possible." Al-Fiyadh said a
good time for the elections would be in five to six months,
after a de-Ba,athification reform law has been completed.


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Cross-Sectarian Group Addresses Diyala
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6. (C) Al-Fiyadh informed poloffs that one month ago the CoR
set up a Diyala "support office" with all the Diyala CoR
members, regardless of sect. Following a four-day
conference, an Executive Committee was established in Diyala
to coordinate on security and coordinate with MNF-I.
Al-Fiyadh said solving the security of multi-ethnic Diyala
would be much more complicated than in Anbar province, which
is solidly Sunni. Diyala,s Kurds are trying to expand their
territory. Al-Fiyadh said Sunni-Shia conflicts in the
province might be more easily resolved through the province's
tribal culture in which sheikhs of both sects have a long
history of accommodating each other. Because the Diyala
provincial council is not able to meet anymore due to
security, the CoR Diyala members group plans to support it
financially and arrange for it to meet in Baghdad. Fiyadh
assessed central Baquba as &90 percent under AQI control8
and said the CoR group was committed to working with Iraqi
security forces to "liberate Baquba."
KHALILZAD