ASSASSINATION OF OMS CLERIC

C O N F I D E N T I A L BASRAH 000079 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 9/27/2018 TAGS: PGOV PTER IZ SUBJECT: ASSASSINATION OF OMS CLERIC CLASSIFIED BY: Ramon Negron, Director, Regional Embassy Office Basrah, Department of State. REASON: 1.4 (d) ¶1. (U) Iraqi press reported the assassination of Sheik Udai Ali Abbas al-Zamel by two unknown gunmen on September 19. Two men opened fire from a motorcycle close to his residence in the al-Kindi area of Basra. ¶2. (C) According to a REO contact, Al-Zamel was age 31, a Shiia cleric, Hauza student, and prominent OMS leader loyal to Moqtada Al-Sadr. In 2003, he formed Saut al-Haak ("Voice of Right"),an OMS organization located in Al-Jazaar Street, Basra. He was accused of killing a Sayeed in Basra in 2004. ¶3. (C) His brother, Mohammad Ali Abbas Al-Zamel, is allegedly also a prominent OMS leader and sheikh of the al-Dagartah and al-Ajrash tribe . Mohammad was detained by British Forces for one month during operation Charge of the Knights (COK). ¶4. (U) According to press, a Basra police officer and a medic from the city's morgue confirmed the killing. The same report gives Udai and Mohammad's last name as Al-Ajrish, which is derived from their tribe. ¶5. (C) Comment: This is the first assassination of a prominent OMS leader in Basra since COK. While the motive of the killing and the identity of the perpetrators remain a mystery, it is possible that the attack was a tribal retaliation for the 2004 killing. In a September 24 meeting at the REO, Badr Branch Chief Abu Hasan al-Rasheed rejected the idea that the assassination was related to conflict within OMS. End comment. NEGRON