IRANIAN-SUPPORTED GROUP SAID TARGETING SISTANI AIDES, WOULD

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 HILLAH 000086

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/7/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINS PINR PTER KISL IZ IR
SUBJECT: IRANIAN-SUPPORTED GROUP SAID TARGETING SISTANI AIDES, WOULD
CONFRONT U.S. IF MALIKI REMOVED

HILLAH 00000086 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Charles F. Hunter, Babil PRT Leader, REO
Al-Hillah, Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (U) This is a PRT Babil cable.


2. (S) Summary: A civil society activist with strong religious
credentials recently warned PRT leader that an
Iranian-controlled group called Asa'ib Al-Haq, based in
Diwaniya, is serving as a tool in Iran's efforts to take control
of the hawza, the Shi'a religious establishment in Najaf. This
same group would be a proxy for Iran and the Islamic Supreme
Council of Iraq in an "open war" to be implemented gradually
against the U.S. in the event of any attempt to change the
Maliki government. On the political front he urged action with
the Council of Representatives and via cultivation of tribal
sheikhs in currently peaceful areas to close them off to further
Iranian inroads. End summary.


3. (C) Hayder Hassan Abboud, aka Abu Al-Hassan Al-Diwani,
contacted PRT leader by e-mail in late May to request a meeting
to pass along information he said came mainly from one Zeyad
Al-Musawi (NFI),someone with Sufi leanings to whom he referred
as his "spiritual master." Unlike at the first meeting, which
took place at the Regional Embassy Office on May 19, Abu
Al-Hassan eschewed the turbaned garb of a cleric for the `agal
of a sheikh when meeting PRT leader at the RTI compound for a
second face-to-face encounter on May 31. Abu Al-Hassan leads
the Akad Cultural Institute and has ties with Sayyid Farqad
Al-Qazwini dating back to Iraq's liberation (see bio note para
9).

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ASA'IB AL-HAQ: IRANIAN/ISCI PROXY
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4. (S) Abu Al-Hassan described a group called Asa'ib (or
Kata'ib) Al-Haq, run by Iran's Quds Force and linked with the
Badr military wing of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI,
formerly SCIRI),that would serve as ISCI's proxy in what he
says is the overt conflict ISCI cannot afford to wage with the
U.S. Jaysh Al-Mahdi (JAM) could also partner with Asa'ib Al-Haq
in this effort, he suggested. Abu Al-Hassan reported that
Asa'ib Al-Haq is based in Diwaniya province and at present
numbers some 50 men led by Yahya Qa'ush and another known as Abu
Du'a. However the group and its Iranian handlers are ultimately
loyal to Ayatollah Kadhum Hussein Al-Ha'iri in Qum, whom Abu
Al-Hassan termed (despite Al-Ha'iri's close ties to Muqtada
Al-Sadr's father) the "true successor" of SCIRI founder Mohammed
Baqer Al-Hakim. Abu Al-Hassan asserted that Al-Ha'iri has
issued a fatwa authorizing jihad against the U.S., a ruling
seconded by Ahmed Al-Baghdadi (NFI) in Lebanon.


5. (S) According to Abu Al-Hassan's information, Asa'ib Al-Haq
would gradually undertake an "open war" against the U.S. should
there be any attempt to remove Nuri Al-Maliki as prime minister.
He said that a rumor is circulating that the U.S. is indeed
attempting to foment a coup against Maliki; ISCI informants
present at a meeting earlier this year at offices of the
International Republican Institute in Baghdad where the idea of
an anti-Maliki movement was allegedly discussed are source of
this tale.

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TARGETING SISTANI'S INNER CIRCLE
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6. (S) Meantime, Abu Al-Hassan declared, Asa'ib Al-Haq would set
about furthering Iran's attempt to gain control of the hawza,
where he himself had studied. Iran realizes that the only sure
way of establishing long-term dominance in Iraq's Shi'a
provinces is to seize the spiritual and temporal power the hawza
represents. As a first step in doing so, the group plans to
begin assassinating supporters of Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani in
Najaf and Diwaniya. (Note: News agencies reported on June 6 the
killing of a Sistani aide named Sheikh Rahim Al-Hasnawi by three
unknown gunmen in Najaf. End note.) This campaign may draw on
information collected by the many taxi drivers in Najaf who work
for the itala'at (Iranian intelligence),according to Abu
Al-Hassan.

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U.S. SHOULD FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE
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7. (S) Abu Al-Hassan, who said he had provided substantially
similar information to American sources (whom he declined to
name) more than a year ago, urged the U.S. to fight fire with
fire. "The best way to influence the Shi'a is through the

HILLAH 00000086 002.2 OF 002


Shi'a," in his words. He advised a "carrot and stick" approach
to the Council of Representatives, particularly by encouraging
the Da'wa party to leave the United Iraqi Alliance and thereby
present a real alternative to ISCI for authentically patriotic
Iraqis. He also urged that the U.S. not ignore tribal leaders
in peaceful southern regions. Maliki needs their support, in
his analysis, but these sheikhs understand that he has nothing
to offer them because of being consumed with problems elsewhere.
If Iran appears to be the better bet for preserving the social
status they enjoy through dispensing favors, they will not
hesitate to make that wager.

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COMMENT
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8. (S) Abu Al-Hassan did not have an explicit agenda beyond
hoping for support ("culturally, not materially") for the
institute he runs in Al-Hillah. Direct and open in speech, he
proudly affirms that even with having taught Arabic and
introduction to philosophy at the hawza, he is open to other
paths to truth beyond those of the "people of the book." In his
initial meeting with PRT leader and again in this latest
discussion, he offered to speak with "anyone, any time" for the
sake of forestalling what he fears is the disastrous deepening
of Iran's influence in southern Iraq. At a minimum, if the
assassination of Sheikh Al-Hasnawi is more than a coincidence,
his predictions about Asa'ib Al-Haq's modus operandi may be
worth taking seriously. End Comment.

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BIO NOTE
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9. (C) Haydar Hassan Abboud, aka Abu Al-Hassan Al-Diwani, was
born in Diwaniya on September 6, 1970. He received a B.S.
(1993) and master's degree (2002) in chemical engineering from
the University of Baghdad, and also holds a bachelor's in law
from the same university (2006). In 1991 he began studying at
the hawza in Najaf. In 1994 he was arrested for anti-Saddam
writings and refusing to serve in the army; after his release at
the end of 1995 he taught secondary school and resumed his hawza
studies. In the past he was a close associate of Sayyid Farqad
Al-Qazwini of the Democratic Iraqi Gathering, of which Abu
Al-Hassan was a founding member and remains a vice president.
He also was the founding dean of Qazwini's Hillah University in
2003 and taught philosophy and religion there until 2005 when he
opened the Akad Cultural Institute (www.akadci.org). He is an
alumnus of the State Department's International Visitor
Leadership Program.
HUNTER