C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 000599

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/18/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINS IR IZ
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR PRESSES BASRAH GOVERNOR FOR EFFECTIVE
ACTION TO STOP ROCKET ATTACKS


Classified By: Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) In a February 11 meeting, the Ambassador told Basrah
governor Mohammed al-Waeli (Fadhila) that the Mission was
very concerned about the rocket attacks targeting REO Basrah
and the British Consulate (co-located in the Basrah Palace
Compound) and urged him to take a more effective approach to
stopping them. The Ambassador cautioned al-Waeli that
coalition economic assistance in Basrah could not be
sustained if the current conditions persisted. Noting that
al-Waeli had committed in the summer of 2006 to work to stop
the rocket attacks, the Ambassador told al-Waeli that the US
expected more than a commitment, but rather an effective plan.


2. (C) In reply, al-Waeli noted several obstacles thwarting
his attempts to stop the rocket attacks. First, he said that
Iran was actively supplying various groups with rockets,
smuggling them across the Shatt al-Arab and up the Faw
peninsula into Basrah. "Iran is causing our problems," he
continued. "We would like the US to strike Iran." Second,
al-Waeli said that the police were infiltrated by militia
members and were not carrying out his orders to apprehend
those responsible for the rocket attacks. Al-Waeli expressed
his readiness to work against the groups responsible but said
he needed greater cooperation from the Iraqi army. He also
noted that he had been passing information about some of
these groups to the British and expressed hope that the
British would take action based on this information.


3. (C) Al-Waeli also described himself as "an obstacle" to
Iranian plans to put "certain parties" in control in Basrah.
(Note: In a conversation with PolOffs prior to his meeting
with the Ambassador, al-Waeli explicitly pointed to SCIRI and
Badr as collaborators with Iran in Basrah. End note.) The
Ambassador told al-Waeli that the US was turning greater
attention to the problem of Iranian interference, but that
what Basrah needed most was effective local leaders who could
control the situation.
KHALILZAD