DIWANIYAH PC REQUESTS REMOVAL OF AL-HURA JOURNALIST

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001522 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2018 TAGS: PGOV IR SUBJECT: DIWANIYAH PC REQUESTS REMOVAL OF AL-HURA JOURNALIST Classified By: Team Leader Robert Pitre for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (U) This is a PRT Diwaniyah reporting cable. ¶2. (S/NF) Summary: On May 06, 2008, the Diwaniyah Provincial Council (PC) voted unanimously to request the removal of TV journalist Al-Shabani from Al Hura television on the basis of "inaccurate" reporting. Al-Hura, a U.S. government-sponsored television station, has rejected this request and issued statements of support. Al-Shabani mentioned his reporting during the height of the Coalition's operation Lion's Pounce as well as his assessment of the current security situation in Diwaniyah Province. End Summary. ¶2. (S/NF) Provincial Reconstruction Team Leader (TL) met with Matham Al-Shabani (protect) on 12 May to get details on the PC's recent request to dismiss Al-Shabani from the U.S. Government-sponsored TV station, Al-Hura. As a way of establishing his credentials, Al-Shabani related that his first interaction with the coalition came during Operation Lion's Pounce from December 2007 to April 2008. Despite warnings from his colleagues against reporting on Coalition activities and discoveries, Al-Shabani chose to continue his journalism. ¶4. (S/NF) Al-Shabani claims that he was able to infiltrate Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM) and expose its actions. He personally saw the torture and execution sites that JAM used and the weapons caches that the coalition uncovered, which bore markings indicating they had been manufactured in Iran. Al-Shabani claims that the common smuggling route was across the frontier at al-Amarah in Maysan and then straight in to Diwaniyah. This was when his troubles began with the provincial government. He says the provincial government questioned why he didn't emphasize the fact that provincial security forces had worked alongside the coalition in these operations against the insurgents. Al-Shabani responded that he only reported on what he saw and that he had not witnessed the presence of provincial security forces. ¶5. (S/NF) Soon after, Al-Shabani received a death threat via SMS on his cell phone. A rough translation follows: "Hypocrite! Listen! We swear to the divine lord that your death is easier for us than taking a drink of water! When you fall in with the infidels and don't tell the truth, we see it. If you're not worried about yourself, you should worry about your family. No one will protect you! You think Al-Budayri (City of Diwaniyah Police Chief) will protect you? The head of the emergency forces won't protect you. Leave your job, leave Diwaniyah for one month starting tomorrow or we swear as Mohammed swore, there won't even be a body left for your family to bury." End rough translation. When Al-Shabani reported it to the police, they claimed that the call came from a stolen cell phone. ¶6. (S/NF) The next report that angered the provincial government was a report on the lack of clean drinking water in some villages. In this instance, Al-Shabani stated that the intent was to make the provincial government accountable for the lack of essential services. Al-Shabani tried to pass the message that the government needs to take care of the needs of the people before its lack of action creates a new generation of terrorists. ¶7. (S/NF) The final controversial by Al-Shabani concerned the lack of coordination, poor quality controls, and lack of proper safety protocols associated with government construction/reconstruction projects. These failures result in higher costs and opportunities to solicit bribes, thus wasting precious government funds, Al-Shabani reported. After this report aired, he was contacted by the PC spokesman and told that there were mistakes in his report. Thereafter, the PC decided to take up the issue during its meeting. ¶8. (S/NF) Al-Shabani believes that the ISCI-dominated provincial government simply doesn't want any negative reporting prior to the provincial elections. Ironically, the PC itself has already removed two of its elected members based on charges of corruption (incidentally, these were the only male representatives from the Sadrist party on the PC). ¶9. (S/NF) In reaction to the PC motion, Al-Hura TV has unequivocally stated that it supports the journalist as a professional who is doing a good job and accused the PC of voting to bar al-Shabani solely for political reasons. The TV station has also featured members of parliament who believe more needs to be done to protect journalists. Al-Shabani says everyone knows that journalists are not safe in Iraq; you need only look at the number who have been killed. ¶10. (S/NF) According to al-Shabani, the Badr militia is BAGHDAD 00001522 002 OF 002 still "active" in Diwaniyah and headed by Governor Khudari. However, al-Shabani believes that JAM is "finished" in Diwaniyah ) members have either been killed, captured or pushed out of the province. He says he is currently investigating a possible new militia group with ties to Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force. So far, he has not been able to find concrete evidence of the ties, but still believes there is a new militia forming. ¶11. (S/NF) Comment: Under the new constitution, the PC has no legal mechanism to censure reporting on Al-Hura. We tend to agree with al-Shabani's assessment that the ISCI-dominated provincial government is reluctant to allow any negative reporting in the months leading up to the provincial elections and considers any negative reporting as an attempt to embarrass it and draw attention to its ineffectiveness. That said, the PC and Governor can legitimately claim that they are making an effort to improve the lives of the citizens of Diwaniyah, and it is unrealistic to think that every village in the province would have potable water, as even the provincial capital lacks an adequate water supply. Interestingly, the Governor regularly comments on corruption in Iraq and in Diwaniyah, but always levels his accusations against people outside of government. In the end, Al-Shabani is a convenient way for the provincial government to attack one of the few legitimately independent TV stations here in Iraq. End Comment. CROCKER