AMBASSADOR PRESSES BASRAH GOVERNOR FOR EFFECTIVE

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