SECURITY FOR SUNNIS REMAINS TENUOUS IN BASRAH

C O N F I D E N T I A L BASRAH 000106 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/13/2017 TAGS: PINS PHUM IZ SUBJECT: SECURITY FOR SUNNIS REMAINS TENUOUS IN BASRAH REF: (A) BASRAH 103 (B) BASRAH 105 CLASSIFIED BY: Louis L. Bono, Director, Basrah Regional Embassy Office, Department of State. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) Sheikh Abd al-Karim al-Dosari, a leading member of the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) in Basrah, called the Regional Embassy Office (REO) on the evening of November 5, to report a spate of violence against Sunnis that day: -Around 1230, the head of the Abu al-Khasib Municipal Council and three of his guards were attacked by unknown gunman, as they were inspecting projects in the district. -At 1330 masked men kidnapped a Sunni male in the al-Hamdan industrial zone of Abu al-Khasib by masked men. His body was discovered nearby about two hours later. -At 1730, another Sunni male was kidnapped in the al-Hamdan area; his fate is unknown. -At 2030, a guard for the IIP was killed and his wife was kidnapped as they were traveling to a hospital in Abu al-Khasib. ¶2. (C) Following the last incident, al-Dosari called the Security Chief General Mohan Hafith Fahad and Police Chief, Major General Jalil Khalaf Shueil, who happened to be meeting with us at that time. (Ref. B) Dosari asked Jalil for protection, but according to Dosari, Jalil replied "'there is nothing we can do about it. You should fight back in case of attack.'" Dosari told Jalil that he has no militia to fight back with. Dosari asked us how Mohan and Jalil could assume the security portfolio (PIC) in December if they cannot provide any protection now. ¶3. (C) On November 11, a Sunni associated with Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM) was killed over a tribal dispute in az-Zubayr, a Sunni center in Basrah province. His brother contacted the deceased's JAM colleagues who drove to az-Zubayr, fired randomly at houses, and then overtook a Sunni mosque, holding the congregants hostage for several hours. As a result, MG Jalil has increased the IP presence in az-Zubayr, but according to Dosari, the police are no match for JAM. BONO