Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08BAGHDAD1974
2008-06-28 12:54:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:  

PRT SALAH AD DIN: VP HASHEMI VISITS SAMARRA

Tags:  PGOV PREL PTER PINS KCRS IZ 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO5700
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #1974 1801254
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 281254Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8020
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 001974 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/28/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PINS KCRS IZ
SUBJECT: PRT SALAH AD DIN: VP HASHEMI VISITS SAMARRA

REF: BAGHDAD 1871

Classified By: PRT SaD Team Leader Rick Bell for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d
).

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 001974

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/28/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PINS KCRS IZ
SUBJECT: PRT SALAH AD DIN: VP HASHEMI VISITS SAMARRA

REF: BAGHDAD 1871

Classified By: PRT SaD Team Leader Rick Bell for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d
).


1. (U) This is a PRT Salah ad Din reporting cable.


2. (C) Summary: On June 22, Sunni Vice President Tareq
Al-Hashemi made an unannounced visit to Samarra in southern
Salah ad Din province to deliver a message of support for
reconstruction efforts. Hashimi is the most senior GOI
official to visit the city since the end of violence that
ensued following the bombings of the Shi'a Golden Mosque in
2006 and 2007. Hashemi heard numerous complaints from city
council members about the lack of progress by the provincial
and central government to promote reconstruction in Samarra.
Hashemi also received a briefing on security issues from
Major General Rasheed, the head of Iraqi Security Forces
(ISF) in Samarra. Following a meeting with religious and
Sons of Iraq (SOIZ) leaders, Hashemi expressed his support
for integration of SOIZ members into the Iraqi Army (IA) and
Iraqi Police (IP). A newly reopened local business appealed
to Hashemi for GOI assistance to expand its business. End
Summary.


3. (C) Sunni Vice President Tareq Al-Hashemi met with local
political, religious, and business leaders during a surprise
visit to Samarra on June 22. Mayor Mahmood Khalif Ahmed
briefed Hashemi on reconstruction efforts in this predominant
Sunni city. City council members complained loudly to
Hashemi about the lack of reconstruction progress and openly
blamed the provincial and central government for their
lackluster efforts to promote development, a sentiment they
said is held by the majority of Samarrans. They cited as an
example that the provincial government has not awarded any
contracts to local Samarran contractors.


4. (C) Hashemi received a briefing on security issues from
Major General Rasheed, the head of Iraqi Security Forces
(ISF) in Samarra. Hashemi also met with Sons of Iraq (SOIZ)
leaders who appealed for increased integration of SOIZ
members into the Iraqi Security Forces. Religious leaders at
this meeting requested assistance to reopen a religious
studies institute and complained that local leaders were not
permitted to enter the Shi'a Al-Askari (Golden) Mosque
compound, which is currently under renovation. At the
meeting's conclusion, Hashemi expressed his support for
integration of SOIZ members into the Iraqi Army (IA) and
Iraqi Police (IP).


5. (C) Hashemi concluded his visit with tours of the Shi'a
Al-Askari (Golden) Mosque and the newly reopened Samarra Drug
Institute, where plant management requested his assistance to
increase drug orders from the Ministries of Defense,
Interior, and Health.


6. (C) Comment: Hashemi is the most senior GOI official to
visit the city since the end of a wave of violence that
gripped the city following the bombings of the Golden Mosque
in 2006 and 2007. Hashemi's visit also signals the first
time a high-level GOI official has called on city officials
before visiting the Golden Mosque, which official visitors
have not typically done in the past. Samarra is a
predominantly Sunni city, and its residents are sensitive to
unannounced visits to the (Shi'a) Golden Mosque, particularly
by GOI or provincial officials who do not make the effort to
discuss broader reconstruction efforts with city officials.
End Comment.
CROCKER