PRT MAYSAN: MAYSAN'S TRIBES SEEK POLITICAL ROLE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 000348

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2018
TAGS: PGOV PINR IZ
SUBJECT: PRT MAYSAN: MAYSAN'S TRIBES SEEK POLITICAL ROLE

REF: A. MX-GBR-J2X-FHT-20564

B. MX-GBR-J2X-FHT-071003

C. MX-GBR-J2X-FHT-20363

D. MX-GBR-J2X-FHT-20296

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Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Greg D'Elia for reasons 1.4 (
b,d).


1. (U) This is a PRT Maysan reporting cable.


2. (SBU) Summary: Tribal members in Maysan are asserting
their political relevance by occupying key positions and
creating independent advocacy groups. Members of several
local tribes, including the Bani Malik, the al-Fartusi, and
the al-Gharrawi, occupy prominent roles in local political
parties and militias. Tribal members are also establishing
groups to pressure the provincial government, including the
Maysan Nobles, Council, the National Front for the Salvation
of the South, and the Maysan Tribal Council. Tribal leaders
and tribal relationships are also being used by political
leaders to assist in maintaining security. End Summary.

Politically prominent tribes
--------------


3. (SBU) Bani Malik: According to the uncle of Deputy
Governor Rafa,a abd Al-Jabbar, the Bani Malik tribe is
influential in the government. Governor Adhil Mhoder Radhi
Al-Maliki and a number of other government officials are
reportedly from this tribe.


4. (S) al-Fartusi: The Fartusi tribe are marsh Arabs who
have settled in and around al-Adel, a town south of the
capitol. There are reportedly 20,000 Maysanis who claim this
tribal affiliation and thirteen branches. The leader is
Shaykh Ali Hassan Sajar al-Fartusi, chair of the Maysan
Tribal Council. Members of the tribe hold positions of power
in Majjar al-Kabir (MAK),al-Kahir, and al-Adel. Members of
the tribe have are also affiliated with anti-coalition
militant groups and have been targets of operations in the
past. Shaykh Abd al-Jamal al-Fartusi (aka Hajj Hassan
Ali al-Fartusi, aka Hassan Ali Mizal al-Fartusi) has been
reported as the leader of Harakat Islamiyya fil Iraq
(reftel A). Members of the tribe, including Abd al-Jamal,
were also targets in OP JORDAN (reftel B).


5. (S) al-Gharrawis: A number of members of the al-Gharrawi
tribe are linked to the Office of the Martyr Sadr (OMS) and
Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM). According to British sources, Shaykh
Ghali Abid Ali al-Gharrawi from the Abu Romana District in
al- Amara led ten other shaykhs in brokering the withdrawal
of JAM from the streets of the capital following Operation
Dorado in March 2006. As of 2004, Shaykh Muhammad
al-Gharrawi was reportedly a moderating influence in OMS.
Shaykh Haydar al-Gharrawi, aka Abu Ahmed, is a reported JAM
Company Commander in the Husayn District of al- Amara
(reftel C).

Maysan Nobles' Council
--------------


6. (SBU) In 2006, Kareem Mahood al-Muhammadawi, aka Abu
Hatim, a member of the an-Nawafil tribe of the Albu Muhammad
confederation, established the Maysan Nobles, Council
(sometimes referred to as the VIP Council). Abu Hatim was
elected General Secretary and the inaugural meeting took
place on 30 March 2006. The reported membership was anywhere
between 800-1000 with an Executive Committee of 105. Thirty
seats were allocated to key tribal leaders, thirty for two
representatives of each of the 15 districts of Maysan, and
the remainder distributed around various groups including
technocrats, academics, women and ethnic minorities. Abu
Hatim defined the council as a lobbying group for people who
are poorly represented by the Provincial Council (PC),
putting pressure on the Governor and the PC to perform, and
in due course, putting forward candidates for provincial
elections. He stressed that the group was not a political
party, but an independent grouping of people who intend to
promote technocrats as well as tribal elders to seats on the
PC.


7. (SBU) In July 2006, a delegation from the Maysan Nobles,
Council and additional tribal leaders marched to the PC,
where in a three-and-a-half hour heated discussion, they
demanded immediate improvements in the security situation.
They expressed as their preference that this should be
delivered through the legitimate apparatus of the government,
but threatened that if the PC and ISF were unable to perform,
the tribes would intervene. A further conference was
scheduled for 15 July 2006, which was expected to incorporate
militia leaders as well as tribes, politicians, and security
chiefs, and which was intended to deliver a consensus behind
a new security plan for Maysan, focused on curtailing
militia/criminal activities. There are conflicting reports
regarding why the conference was delayed past the set date

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and it is unclear whether it actually occurred. Abu Hatim
blamed the PC for politicizing the conference and causing the
delay. Others claimed the delay was a result of
disagreements between the tribes

National Front for the Salvation of the South
--------------


8. (S/NF) The National Front for the Salvation of the South
is another group that has reportedly been started by Abu
Hatim. According to separate reporting the group,s
expressed aim is to combat Iranian influence and militia
activity.

Maysan Tribal Council
--------------


9. (SBU) Based upon reports of its activities, the Maysan
Tribal Council seems to be the formal voice for the
province,s tribal community. The tribal council is
reportedly allied with the councils from Basra and Thi Qar.


10. (SBU) On 18 December 2007, six days after a car bomb was
detonated in the center of al- Amara, more than 500 tribal
members gathered for a conference in the Sports and Youth
center of the city. Most of the tribal members were from
Maysan with some tribal representation from al-Basra and
al-Kut provinces. The conference was held under the banner
&Security and Construction Are the Two Essential Pillars for
Maysan Prosperity8. The conference was led by the chair of
the Maysan Tribal Council, Shaykh Muhammad Hasan Sajar
Al-Fartusi, and included a speech by the head of the
Provincial Council,s Security Committee Abd al-Lateef (Abu
Ahmed) at-Tameemi. The gathering offered tribal members an
opportunity to express their views on a variety of issues and
resulted in the issuance of a number of declarations and
demands, including commitment to national unity and
recognition of federalism as a way to save Iraq from
partition; a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign forces;
a rejection of armed and illegal groups, including security
companies, the MEK, and the PKK; and recognition of the
active role of as-Sistani and the "honorable" stance taken by
Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim after the explosions.

Keeping the Peace
--------------


11. (SBU) Tribal leaders and tribal relationships are also
being tapped by political leaders to assist in maintaining
security. In May 2005, two JAM fighters reportedly bombed
al-Manar Engineering Company which belonged to members of the
Ka,ab tribe. The tribe,s leadership was infuriated and
went directly to the attacker,s families who then agreed to
pay a significant sum in damages and banish the two men from
the town. Shortly thereafter, the town,s leading tribal
shaykhs agreed to punish any militia member who attacked a
tribe or its property. The leaders announced that any
attackers would lose the right to call themselves by the name
of the tribe and be rejected by his tribe. In 2006,
homicides during the first five months of the year had
declined by 71 percent as compared with the previous five
months.


12. (SBU) In March 2006, 11 shaykhs helped broker a cease
fire between the Iraqi Army and JAM following OPERATION
DORADO. The group included leadership from the Albu Darraj,
the al-Mussawi, the al-Gharrawi, and the Albu Muhammad. The
shaykhs had made an agreement with the Governor and PC during
the previous month that fighting would cease. The shaykhs
helped broker the ceasefire to demonstrate that, despite the
outbreak of violence, they did indeed exercise full control
over their constituencies. During a 27 December 2007 PRT
meeting with the Maysanis, the PRDC Chairman Mohan Mahi
ash-Shabib relayed that an individual was interfering with
the construction of the $14.7M USG-funded surgical hospital
being built in al- Amara. The Chairman noted that the
individual,s tribal leader was contacted and that the
individual was &embarrassed8 in front of his tribe.

OMS opposition
--------------


13. (S) As tribal members and their leadership step forward
they also put themselves as risk from the local militias. A
recent report claimed that OMS/JAM was investigating tribes
that had allegedly signed an agreement to fight any person or
group supported by IRAN (reftel D).


14. (S) COMMENT. Despite the fact that the Governor and the
young technocrats on the PC seem to officially ignore the
tribes, tribal leaders are making moves to assert their
political influence. It is important to understand the form
that these developments are taking as it will help craft the
PRT,s engagement with tribally-based organizations and their
leadership. The PRT is aggressively seeking to expand our

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contacts with tribal leaders in Maysan. END COMMENT.
BUTENIS