NON-MUSLIM ENDOWMENTS DIRECTOR PLEADS FOR ACCESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001962 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/24/2018 TAGS: PGOV KIRF PHUM PREL IZ SUBJECT: NON-MUSLIM ENDOWMENTS DIRECTOR PLEADS FOR ACCESS TO HIS BUDGET REF: BAGHDAD 1848 Classified By: Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) During a meeting with Poloff, Abdullah Alnoufali, Director of the Iraqi Non-Muslim Endowments Office, said he was satisfied with the size of his budget which is dedicated primarily towards restoring and maintaining Christian worship sites; what is hampering the Endowment's work is that the budget cannot be released because a law pertaining to Christian sects is tied up in the CoR. Alnoufali said a way around this obstacle is for the Prime Minister to issue an executive order for release of the funds. Alnoufali said the overall security situation in Baghdad for Christians has improved. In the long term, he believes the only way to effectively address the challenges Iraqi minorities face is a secular constitution and government. Post will enage with the Prime Minister's office to press for high level intervention to release funds for the Non-Muslim Endowments. END SUMMARY. A BUDGET THAT CANNOT BE USED -------------- ¶2. (C) In a June 25 meeting, Non-Muslim Endowments Director Abdullah Hermiz Jajo Alnoufali lamented that he was unable to hire the engineering, technical and other expert staff he needs in order to restore and maintain non-Muslim religious buildings and sites because he was unable to get authorization to use the budget allocated to the Endowment. The Non-Muslim Endowments had only an operational budget for salaries and office expenses until 2007 when it was granted an investment budget for carrying out projects, mainly the restoration of churches. In 2008 the budget was doubled to 7.9 billion Iraqi dinars (approximately $6.6 million). However, the 2008 budget allocation is being held in the Ministry of Finance. Alnoufali noted that the work of restoring, maintaining, and protecting churches in Baghdad and the construction of new churches and facilities such as Sunday schools in Ninewa and Dohuk cannot be realized until he can access the money. ¶3. (C) According to Alnoufali, the position of the Finance Ministry is that the Christian Sects Law has to be passed in order to release the funds and authorize the establishment of what he called a General Directorate for Engineering, as well as hire enough expert staff to execute projects. Currently, he has an engineering section with only four or five engineers, a woefully inadequate number to undertake the extensive restoration and renovation needed in many Baghdad churches, convents and monasteries, as well as to build new churches in Dohuk and Ninewa. Alnoufali noted that Baghdad did not need new churches, but rather the restoration and protection of those already existing. ¶4. (C) To overcome the obstacle presented by non-action in the CoR on the new legislation, Alnoufali said the Prime Minister could issue an executive order authorizing the engineering directorate's establishment and the release of the funds required to hire staff and undertake projects. He was pessimistic about the chances of the Christian sects law being passed any time soon. EVANGELISTS OR SABOTEURS? -------------- ¶5. (C) Alnoufali, a Christian, was harshly critical of foreign evangelical missionaries who arrived in Iraq after the fall of the former regime in 2003. He said their activities triggered the 2004 bombing campaign against Christian churches, which in turn prompted the GOI to fund basic security for churches in the form of four or five guards for each church. According to Alnoufali, evangelicals rented houses which they used for their missionary activities and as churches; now some had transformed themselves into NGOs. Alnoufali claimed the evangelicals' activities undermined Iraq's native Christian communities and hinted at ulterior motives of those behind the evangelical activities. (Comment: Iraqis, both Muslim and non-Muslim, have been extremely sensitive to any reports or rumors of Christian prosetylization. Iraqi Christians such as Alnoufali fear the divisive impact of foreign missionaries who find most of their converts amongst the native Christian communities. End Comment.) SECURITY IMPROVED, BUT NO LASTING SOLUTION IN SIGHT -------------- -------------- ¶6. (C) Alnoufali said that security conditions for BAGHDAD 00001962 002 OF 002 Christians in Baghdad had improved in recent months, noting that two churches in Doura had reopened and a few Christian families had returned to stay. On the other hand, Alnoufali said that while PM Maliki and his government did not want to harm Christians and other minorities, they were "two-faced" i.e. a secular side and a religious one. When Maliki deals with ISCI and Iran, he has to show his religious side. Alnoufali implied that Maliki is beholden to religious forces and claimed that any initiatives Maliki undertakes to support minorities were simply public relations moves. In his view, the only real answer to the concerns of non-Muslim minorities in Iraq is a secular constitution and government. CROCKER