MOSQUES ADDRESS PROVINCIAL IRAQI CONTROL (PIC)

C O N F I D E N T I A L HILLAH 000068

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 4/26/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL MARR SOCI IZ
SUBJECT: MOSQUES ADDRESS PROVINCIAL IRAQI CONTROL (PIC)

REF: HILLAH 0060

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) In our continuing efforts to monitor Friday prayer
sermons through our sources on the ground in Najaf Province (see
reftel),this past week's efforts provided contrasting views
regarding, among other things, the process of Provincial Iraqi
Control (PIC):

KUFA MOSQUE


2. (C) On April 20 at Friday prayers at the Kufa Mosque, Sheik
Salah Al-Khaqani delivered the sermon. Speaking to some 800
congregants, he made the following points of political interest:

-- We condemn the latest attacks against the Sadrists in Baghdad
and the deaths of hundreds of innocent people;
-- The blame rests with the National Government, itself crippled
by the Invasion;
-- The current state of affairs will lead the country to a dark
end, unless the Invasion ceases;
-- The Sadrists must call the Invasion by its name and not allow
themselves to be suppressed by the pressures of the provincial
and local governments;
-- Recall how strong was the voice of the people in Al-Amarah
who expelled the British invaders out of Maysan Province (Note:
In a ceremony on April 18 in Amarah, the capital of Maysan
Province, British forces and the Governor of Maysan signed the
documents establishing Provincial Iraqi Control (PIC). End Note).
-- Muqtada Al-Sadr honors the patriotic stand of the Sadrists in
having called for the six Sadrist ministers to withdraw from the
national government.


3. (C) According to our source on the ground, the congregants
were spanned the ages of 16 to 50. Mahdi militia (JAM) members
guarded the Mosque itself.

HUSINIYHIA FATIMIA MOSQUE, NAJAF


4. (C) On April 20 at Friday prayers at the Husiniyhia Fatimia
Mosque, Najaf, Sadr Al-Deen Al-Qubanji (SCIRI Affiliation) and
made the following points of political interest:

-- The National Government must cleanse the Council of
Representatives of all those who are Ba'athist followers; the
terrorists who collaborate with them and who used their
positions of trust, whether members of parliament or from their
personal security details, should be executed for the terrorist
act that took place at the Parliament itself;
-- While many nations speak only about the so-called Invasion as
the sole cause for Iraq's woes, this is an incomplete picture --
the dark side is the pain and suffering of the Iraqi people, but
the bright side is the continuous handing over of authority in
the provinces, and this indicates that the Invasion will reach
an end;
-- To lend further balance to the national picture, there must
be both a political agenda and a timetable for the withdrawal of
the Invasion forces;
-- Those who point to violence and suffering of Iraqis as the
result of conflict between Sunni and Shia are completely
mistaken -- it is instead a conflict between Iraqis and foreign
extremists. Iraqis, who are the ultimate target of these
extremists, will not bend to the will of the terrorists;
-- Neighboring Arab countries desire to restore the Iraqi
political map to the days of the Dictator's regime, and to wipe
out the four years of material and political progress;
-- Let the Arab foreign ministers come to Najaf, rather than to
Sharm el-Sheik in Egypt, and thereby prove to the world that
Najaf has progressed to safety and security.

COMMENT


5. (C) While neither preacher invoked the PIC that had already
taken place in December, 2006 in Najaf, I find it interesting to
note the different interpretations made by the SCIRI and Sadrist
camps. While both view PIC as positive, SCIRI is more moderate
-- in calling vaguely for a timetable, they recognize the
inherent security risks where PIC is implemented too quickly.
The Sadrists, on the other hand, label PIC as evidence of
domestic insurgent impact. This spin is roundly rejected by
Al-Deen Al-Qubanji, who negates them entirely. In either camp,
however, it is clear that PIC remains uppermost in mind as the
provinces come to terms with the implementation of Coalition
policy.

DAVISON