BABIL: 2007 BUDGET EXECUTION: A WORRISOME UPDATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L HILLAH 000150 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/12/2017 TAGS: PGOV ECON EFIN EPET PINR IZ SUBJECT: BABIL: 2007 BUDGET EXECUTION: A WORRISOME UPDATE REF: A) HILLAH 132 B) HILLAH 149 C) HILLAH 143 D) HILLAH 148 CLASSIFIED BY: Mary H. Witt, PRT Leader, PRT Babil, REO Al-Hillah, U.S. Department of State. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (U) This is a PRT Babil Cable. ¶2. (C) Former Babil Provincial Reconstruction Development Committee (PRDC) Coordinator Qassem Hamed Abid told PRT that Babil's much-touted budget execution success for 2007 is a fraud (refs A and B). In a one-on-one conversation with the PRT on November 12, Qassem accused the current PRDC members of favoritism in the awarding of contracts. More specifically, he accused the PRDC of borrowing against the leftover 2006 funds to meet a June 2007 disbursement target, while embezzling equivalent funds allocated for 2007. To underscore his assertion, Qassem gave the PRT a spreadsheet of expenditures that showed inconsistencies in the monthly progress of budget execution for the years 2006 and 2007. ¶3. (C) Comment: Allegations of corruption and mismanagement concerning the 2007 Babil capital budget are rife among Babil opposition politicians. As former PRDC head, Qassem bears a personal grudge against Governor Salem Saleh Mahdi al-Muslimawi (ISCI) for sacking him, and is actively seeking Salem's removal as governor (refs C and D). Nonetheless, his allegations of corruption cannot be discounted. If true, they raise serious questions about the ability of provincial level officials to handle any large fiscal responsibilities transparently and without fraud. The PRT will continue following this issue. End Comment. WITT