PREACHER URGES SADRIST SELF-RESTRAINT

C O N F I D E N T I A L HILLAH 000060 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 4/17/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL MARR SOCI SUBJECT: PREACHER URGES SADRIST SELF-RESTRAINT REF: HILLAH 51 CLASSIFIED BY: Mark G. Davison, Team Leader, Provincial Reconstruction Team, DOS. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (U) This is a Najaf PRT cable. Mark G. Davison, Leader. ¶2. (C) On April 13 at Friday prayers at the Kufa Mosque, Sheik Jawad Al-Rubaiee delivered the sermon. Speaking to some 600-800 congregants, he made the following points of political interest: -- We condemn the military raids and actions taking place against the Sadrists in Diwaniyah, who along with the innocent people of the province, are suffering; -- Nonetheless, the Sadrists must continue to exercise self-restraint; to do otherwise would be to invite a massacre, and that is what the Invaders desire; -- Muqtada al-Sadr is, in his person, a symbol of Iraq united against the Occupation; he is a true leader who places Iraqi national interests above any personal ambition; -- Muqtada al-Sadr is in Iraq and with his people; -- The Sadrists must stand with their brothers from other ethnic groups; this approach was used successfully in the recent Protest, itself an exercise that unified Iraqi hopes for the future and demands that the Occupiers leave the country. ¶3. (C) According to our source on the ground, the congregants were mainly of the younger set, from ages 16 to 40. Mahdi militia (JAM) members guarded the main gate to the Mosque, its perimeter and conducted thorough searches of all who entered the Mosque itself. They also did not allow vehicles to part near the Mosque or to utilize the parking lot behind it. ¶4. (C) It is interesting to note how Sheik Al-Rubaiee's remarks build on the published quasi-religious statement of Muqtada himself, made in the days before the April 9 march and demonstration (reported Reftel). The political points in the sermon appear to demonstrate close coordination between Muqtada and his supporters in the religious community, wherever he himself might be at present, and we note particularly the now repeated call on the Sadrists for self-restraint in the face of what remains an ongoing security operation. DAVISON