BASRAH GOVERNOR'S FATE FURTHER DELAYED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BASRAH 000085

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 9/21/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS UK IZ
SUBJECT: BASRAH GOVERNOR'S FATE FURTHER DELAYED

REF: A. BASRAH 38 B. BASRAH 77 C. BAGHDAD 1773 D. BASRAH 66 E. BASRAH 83

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CLASSIFIED BY: Howell Howard, A/Director, Regional Embassy
Office - Basrah, Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (C/NF) Summary: Fadhila member Aqeel Talib told Regional
Embassy Officers September 17 that the High Tribunal Court
reviewing the Basrah Provincial Council's (PC) no-confidence
vote against Governor Mohammed Wa'eli had closed the case and
would issue a verdict around September 28. On September 6, PM
Nouri al-Maliki prohibited the government from dealing with
Wa'eli. Fadhila parliamentarians responded by requesting that
Maliki stop interfering pending the court's decision. Fadhila
refused Maliki's renewed offer to replace Wa'eli with a Fadhila
member. Maliki then authorized Basrah's security chiefs to
forcibly remove Wa'eli if the court ruled against him.
Meanwhile, the British are now opening a dialogue with Wa'eli
through Talib. End Summary.

COURT WILL DETERMINE WA'ELI'S FATE
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2. (C) Basrah PC member and Wa'eli confidant Aqeel Talib told us
that the three-judge court reviewing the PC's no-confidence vote
against Wa'eli had closed the case to further evidence on
September 17 and would render a verdict around September 28 (ref
A). According to Talib, the Court was tired of the PC
constantly delaying the proceedings (ref B). Fadhila, he said,
remained confident Wa'eli would win the case.

FADHILA MEETS PM MALIKI
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3. (C) Talib related that on September 6, Maliki's office
instructed all government offices to stop dealing with Wa'eli.
In response, Fadhila parliamentarians Dr. Sayid Hassan
al-Shammari, Jaber Khalifah, Basim al-Sherif, and Dr. Ammar
Tu'ma privately met with Maliki on September 10 and asked Maliki
to stop using his office to remove the Governor. They asked
that the Court resolve this issue and noted that the recent
deployment of troops to Basrah came off as a Unified Iraqi
Coalition (UIC) threat to forcibly remove the Governor.


4. (C) According to Talib, Maliki responded that he was not
personally against Wa'eli, but he was under intense pressure
from Dawa, Badr Organization, and the Islamic Supreme Council of
Iraq to remove Wa'eli. Maliki again offered to give Wa'eli an
ambassadorship and replace him with another Fadhila member.
Talib said that Fadhila refused the offer because, in their
view, Wa'eli did nothing wrong and the constitution did not
allow the PM to replace a Governor.


5. (C/NF) Talib said, Maliki also told the Fadhila
representatives that both the U.S. and the UK were putting
pressure on him to remove Wa'eli. Senior Fadhila leaders,
including spiritual leader Muhammed al-Yacubi, later met in
Najaf to discuss the accusation of U.S. pressure, but ultimately
decided Maliki was mistaken. We reminded Talib that this was a
legal matter for an Iraqi court to decide, but while the case
was pending we would continue to treat Wa'eli as Governor (ref
C).

JALIL PREPARED TO REMOVE WA'ELI WITH FORCE
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6. (C) Basrah police chief, Major General (MG) Jalil Khalaf
Shueil, confided to us September 18 that he and Basrah security
chief General Mohan Hafith Fahad met with Maliki last week to
discuss the possibility of forcibly removing Wa'eli (ref D).
Jalil said "we will let the Court decide," but if the decision
is against Wa'eli and he refuses to leave office, then Jalil is
prepared to force the Governor out by "surrounding the city and
cordoning off neighborhoods." Jalil called Wa'eli the "best of
the worst" possible governors, but noted he was under Maliki's
orders not to communicate with the Governor.

BRITISH OPEN DIALOGUE WITH FADHILA
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7. (C/NF) Talib told us that he met with UK Consul General
Richard Jones, September 15 at their request. Talib said he
confronted Jones about the UK's refusal to meet with Wa'eli and
UK pressure on Maliki to remove the Governor (ref E). Jones,
according to Talib, said that the UK supported the central
government's position based on the Council of Minister's letter

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telling Wa'eli to step down, the PC's vote against Wa'eli, and
CPA Article 71. Comment: We have encouraged the British to meet
with Wa'eli. Recently, MND-SE commander MG Graham Binns agreed
with our approach and encouraged the Foreign Office to open a
dialogue with Wa'eli in case he wins his court case. The FCO
appear to have taken a more cautious approach by seeking out
Wa'eli's right-hand man. End Comment.

COMMENT
--------------


8. (C) While Maliki may be under pressure from the UIC's Shi'a
parties and has authorized the use of force against Wa'eli if
necessary, Maliki appears content to let the Court decide
Wa'eli's fate - if what Talib says is true. Talib opined that
if Wa'eli were deposed by force, there would be violence in
Basrah, especially between Fadhila and Badr, which has led
efforts to oust Wa'eli. Although battalions from the north are
bolstering Jalil's forces, a confrontation with Fadhila, reputed
to have the largest militia, could indeed be messy. Maliki's
opposition to Wa'eli may also have influenced Fadhila's
withdrawal from the UIC and pushed Fadhila into the arms of the
Sadrists (septel). End comment.
HOWARD