NAJAF AND DIWANIYAH PROVINICAL ROUNDUP

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 HILLAH 000055

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 4/13/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR IZ
SUBJECT: NAJAF AND DIWANIYAH PROVINICAL ROUNDUP

REF: (A) HILLAH 54 (B) HILLAH 51

HILLAH 00000055 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Mark G. Davison, Team Leader, Provincial
Reconstruction Team, DOS.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (U) This is a PRT Najaf/Diwaniyah cable. Mark G. Davison,
Leader.

SUMMARY


2. (S) Local sources have provided some details regarding an
April 11 raid on the main office of the Sadrist movement in
Diwaniyah during the ongoing security operation. Local
journalists are reportedly complaining regarding access to the
area of operations. According to one NGO, quoting a doctor at
the main hospital, emergency services are also experiencing
difficulties regarding access and are short of supplies.
Apparently responding to the Prime Minister's statements in
Tokyo, Muqtada al-Sadr may be under pressure, both from the
security operation and a perceived lack of impact of the recent
demonstration, and this could make for a more dangerous climate
in the two provinces. End Summary.

FURTHER ASPECTS EMERGE ON SECURITY OPERATION


3. (C) As stated in the caveat of Ref (A),while other sources
are no doubt reporting regarding the ongoing security operation
in Diwaniyah, it may continue to be useful to convey some
aspects of events, as coming to us from PRT Diwaniyah locally
engaged staff:

Raid on Sadrist Movement Office

-- Iraqi Security Forces with Coalition support conducted a raid
of the main office of the Sadrist movement in downtown Diwaniyah
on April 11, 2007. The raid was based on intelligence
information regarding suspected terrorist activity coming from
the office itself;
-- Iraqi security forces report finding in the office:
-Hand grenades and materials for making explosive charges;
-Suspicious identification cards and hand-held
communications
equipment;
-Anti-government propaganda, as well as photographs of
injured
security forces and damaged security vehicles.

Journalists Complain Regarding Access

-- According to our sources, Iraqi journalists are intent on
covering the security operation and have complained that they
are being barred from areas of confrontation within the city of
Diwaniyah;
-- The journalists claim that they must rely exclusively on
press conferences arranged by the security forces within secure
locations;
-- Apparently, two journalists who were intent on entering the
area of operations were only dissuaded by the IA checkpoint
guards firing their weapons in the air. One journalist was from
the newspaper, al-Sabaah; the other from the TV channel al-Forat
and inaccurate claims that they had come to harm circulated in
the province.

Impact on the Life of the City

Security is reportedly still very tight at the outskirts to the
city, with checkpoints there still closed to the general
traveling public. Only emergency vehicles are allowed access.
Governmental departments and offices, as well as all schools
remain closed as of April 11. With restricted traffic, prices
of foodstuffs and the general market basket are rising.

NGO REPORTS SHORTAGES IN EMERGENCY HEALTH CARE SUPPLIES


4. (C) While we are not able to corroborate details, the NGO
Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian
Assistance has issued its own report on Diwaniyah, dated April
11:

Begin text:

Health workers in Diwaniyah, Qadisiyah Province, indicate that a
week of fighting between US-Iraqi forces and Shia militiamen has
brought the city to the brink of a quote, real humanitarian
catastrophe, unquote. Aid agencies and doctors are demanding
they be given access to the city's population. Quote, We cannot
send our ambulances in to collect dead bodies or the wounded
from the streets. And we are running out of essential medical
items such as pain killer tablets, IV fluids, anesthesia, suture

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kits, antiseptic, bandages and cotton, unquote, said Dr. Kamal
Hussein of the city's general hospital.

End text.

MUQTADA AL-SADR HAS HIS SAY


5. (C) We have again received, through our Najaf channels, a
published proclamation of Muqtada al-Sadr, apparently responding
to the statements made in Tokyo of Iraq's Prime Minister
regarding continuing Coalition presence. Our source is in no
doubt regarding the proclamation's authenticity, and we note
that the paper is once again stamped with Muqtada al-Sadr's
Persian script cartouche.

For brevity's sake we have omitted the references to the Koran
and have somewhat synopsized the message:

Begin informal, edited translation:

In the name of God.

God bless all the protesters in Najaf, when you stood as a
united wall against the invasion and screamed quote, Out, Out
Invasion, unquote. Your voices remain important to us as long
as you reject that which is wrong, follow that which is right,
and love Iraq. We are not like those, particularly he who
reached a position of authority, who demanded your voice when he
needed that voice during elections and then ignored that same
voice, along with your opinions and your demands.

Did you hear the head of government stating that it was
meaningless to schedule the invasion's withdrawal? Where does
that leave your statement, made from the multitudes that walked
to Najaf, and where does that leave their voices, demanding the
withdrawal? Where does that leave you, with your Iraqi flags
raised in protest, filling the sky? And where does that leave
you, the head of government, who from the Iraqi people have
reached the position you are now in? Do you listen to the voice
of the people, only when you choose to, and ignore it when you
do not wish to hear?

You (e.g. the Prime Minister) are oppressing the nation and what
your claims are in conflict with the Hawza (e.g. Shia religious
authorities) as well as the political entities.

I stand on the verge of hopelessness: -- do I congratulate this
great nation for their mass demonstration, or shall I merely
pity your illogical and illegal statements? Shall I let
everyone know that similar statements might force me and the
believers with me, who politically resist the invasion, to take
other actions?

End translation

COMMENT -- A DANGEROUS MIX


6. (S) In conversations with local contacts, it is clear that
the continuing pressure on the Sadrist Mahdi militia in
neighboring Diwaniyah province, combined with Muqtada Al-Sadr's
frustration, as expressed to his provincial supporters, creates
a dangerous mix. While I am only one observer, with albeit
limited contacts, the potential for a more violent reaction than
heretofore in the two provinces remains an ever-present danger.
DAVISON