EPRT: HR ADVISOR AL-JABOORI EXPLAINS SUNNI

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 001031 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/03/2018 TAGS: PGOV SOCI SCUL IZ SUBJECT: EPRT: HR ADVISOR AL-JABOORI EXPLAINS SUNNI WITHDRAWAL FROM NATIONAL RECONCILIATION CONFERENCE REF: 07 BAGHDAD 003907 Classified By: E-PRT Leader Eric Whitaker, Reason: Section 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (U) This is a Baghdad 2 E-PRT reporting cable. ¶2. (C) On March 25, Sheikh Omar Al-Jaboori, Human Rights Advisor to Vice President Tariq Al-Hashimi told E-PRT Team Leader and BCT Commander during a biweekly reconciliation meeting that prominent Sunni political parties refused to participate in the March 18 national reconciliation conference in Baghdad for several reasons. These included: -- The invitation was "not appropriate." It was exclusively for selected members of the Council of Representatives, and not inclusive. -- The event was anticipated as an act of propaganda by the GOI/PM,s Office, designed in part to provide a good impression on the eve of the League of Arab States Summit to be held in Damascus. The event was "not serious." ¶3. (C) Al-Jaboori complained that the PM,s Office had removed IFCNR leader Dr. Safaa Al-Sheikh from the Council of Representatives National Reconciliation Committee. The Committee is too heavily influenced by the PM,s Office, he added, rather than being independent and incorporating other important sheikhs. Today, the Committee is "captured" by the PM, who then invites who he pleases to reconciliation events. To represent true reconciliation, the Committee must be a composite of individuals, rather than partisan elements. ¶4. (C) Ironically, Al-Jaboori had repeatedly raised the notion of higher-level dialogue on national reconciliation in several previous meetings with the E-PRT and BCT (reftel). CROCKER