MUTHANNA: CIU CHIEF SAYS IRANIAN-BACKED HIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003457 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/31/2018 TAGS: POL PGOV EFIN IZ SUBJECT: MUTHANNA: CIU CHIEF SAYS IRANIAN-BACKED HIT SQUADS HAVE ENTERED PROVINCE Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Gregory D'Elia for reasons 1. 4 (b,d) ¶1. (U) This is a Muthanna PRT reporting cable ¶2. (C) Summary: Brigadier General Ali, Muthanna,s Criminal Investigative Unit (CIU) Chief told PRT in two late October meetings that alleged hit squads funded by the Iranian government have entered Muthanna and are preparing to strike during provincial elections. One group's leaders are said to be based in Najaf and secretly traveling into Muthanna via back roads to plan their operations. Another is said to have set up a desert camp in southern Muthanna after coming across the Saudi Arabian border. The local U.S. military commander agreed to Ali's request for U.S. military reconnaissance support to help locate the latter group. There is no evidence of linkage between the two alleged groups at this time. End Summary. Violence Expected During Provincial Elections -------------- ¶3. (C) PRT Leader and 2-12 Cavalry Battalion Commander met with Brigadier General Ali, Muthanna,s CIU Chief about criminal threats during the upcoming provincial elections. BG Ali expects violence to hit Muthanna as early as November and to continue through the election season. While specific targets have not been identified, BG Ali expects the groups to target intelligence chiefs, judges, leaders in the Iraqi Security Forces, politically active sheikhs, election centers and Coalition Forces. BG Ali claimed CIU civilian sources, which he declined to identify, citing their need for confidentiality, indicate these groups possess the latest Iranian EFPs, which they will employ in combination with sniper fire. Recruiting &New Faces8 -------------- ¶4. (C) BG Ali began with a positive assessment of the situation in Muthanna, showing pictures of local JAM cell leaders and citing warrants for their arrest. BG Ali claimed these networks were 80 percent under control and that they now avoided direct confrontation in favor of IEDs and other hit-and-run tactics. The CIU success rate in thwarting the JAM cells is forcing them to step up their recruitment effort since &they need new faces.8 Recruitment predictably focuses on young men, he said. ¶5. (C) Asked if JAM recruitment effort were distributed evenly or concentrated in certain areas, BG Ali identified Khidr as the province,s hot spot due to its proximity to Nasiriyah in neighboring Dhi Qar province, which itself is closer to Iran and home to JAM,s marsh hideouts. Rumaytha, on the other hand, has not been a hospitable recruiting environment following the JAM-linked 2007 assassination of Governor Ali al-Hassani, a native of Rumaytha. Specific Threats Identified -------------- ¶6. (C) (S) BG Ali shared details about two specific threat reports which he assessed at a 70 percent confidence level. The first pertained to an Iranian-trained JAM group said to be based in Najaf and reportedly entering Muthanna via back-roads and making use of forged identification documents. BG Ali claims that they are establishing cells in Muthanna and preparing for November or December operations. No specific information about the number or identities of these cell members has surfaced yet. His CIU organization has compiled dossiers, with photos, on 30 key leaders in Najaf; he was critical of his CIU counterparts in Najaf for their alleged lack of urgency in following up. ¶7. (C) The second report was accompanied by a request for military assistance. The CIU believes that another Special Group of 10 to 20 men trained in Iran has crossed the Saudi Arabian border, establishing their camp in a southern Muthanna valley. CIU sources report that this group traveled from Iran, through Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, to their Muthanna border crossing point. BG Ali requested U.S. military reconnaissance support to help locate this group. The 2-12 Commander agreed to work with his IA counterparts to help locate the group said to be camping in Muthanna. (Note: There is no known link between this group and the Najaf organization at this time. End Note.) ¶8. (C) Comment: BG Ali and his CIU organization have been instrumental in maintaining law and order in Muthanna province, and PRT believes information provided by him to be credible. End Comment. BAGHDAD 00003457 002.2 OF 002 CROCKER