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.

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