SADRISTS IN NAJAF

S E C R E T HILLAH 000049 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 4/26/2018 TAGS: PGOV IZ IR PTER JAM SUBJECT: SADRISTS IN NAJAF ¶1. (C) Begin Summary: On April 24, Team Leader met with Sheikh and COR member Hussein Ali Al Shalan (Diwaniyah) and Sheikh and COR member Ra'ad Wahid Al Fitlah (Najaf). The two COR members say the Sadrists (and all parties) show restraint and do not fight in Najaf, and those Sadrists who are in Najaf are more influential and authoritative than the Sadrists bloc in Parliament. Former Governor and PRDC Chief Engineer Haidar Mayali says the Sadrists support the airport project along with all other Najaf political parties. End Summary. Don't Fight in the Holy City! -------------- ¶2. (S) Team Leader (TL) opened by noting that, during the recent uptick in Sadrist violence in Basrah, Baghdad, and Nasariya, Najaf had remained stable, and even had remained calm after the assassination of senior Sadrist and Moqtada brother-in-law Sayid al Nuri. TL asked the two COR members for the reasons behind this stability. They replied that all parties respected a very strong taboo against fighting in the holy city of Najaf. It was not just that the Marjaiya exerted influence to keep the city calm, it was because all parties recognized that if something were to start in Najaf, it might prove impossible to stop. When TL noted that both COR members dealt with the Sadrist bloc in the Parliament and asked who they thought had the more authoritative voice among the Sadrists, absent Moqtada, the two COR members were unequivocal that Sadrist leaders in Najaf like MOS spokesman Salaah Obaidi and Ahmed Shabani were more authoritative than any of the Sadrist bloc Parliamentarians. At the same time, they acknowledged that they were often perplexed by the command and control structure of the Sadrist movement and expressed some frustration at its opacity when there were flare-ups. They took it as read fact that the rogue elements of JAM had been heavily infiltrated by Iranian special force units. As for the Sadrists' ability to morph into an entity which would practice politics by peaceful means and respect the Iraqi constitution, both expressed uncertainty. However, they both believed it was important to keep pushing the Sadrists in that direction. The Sheikhs also believed (and possibly know for a fact?) that former Prime Minister Allawi is meeting with some Sadrists and trying to bring them into the political process and to abandon militia tactics. They also expressed confidence that, if push came to shove, it might be a hard fight, but that the JAM could be dealt with. All Support the Najaf Airport -------------- ¶3. (C) In a separate conversation, former CPA Governor, and current PRDC Chief Engineer Haidar Al Mayali told Team Leader that the Provincial Council had an Airport Committee made up of representatives of all seven parties that had representation in the ISCII-dominated Provincial Council. Team Leader asked if the Sadrists supported the airport since the Provincial Council, unlike the Najaf Local Council, did not have any direct Sadrist representation. Mayali, who had run into a fair amount of difficulty with the Sadrists during his term as Governor, noted the airport project had started during a time when there was a Sadrist Minister of Transportation. The Minister had been very supportive of the Najaf airport program, and when he left office instructed his Deputy to keep pushing the project and keep him in the loop. Mayali concluded that, no matter how much he might disagree with the Sadrists across a range of issues, with respect to the airport, the Sadrists were also supporters. SIMMONS