Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09BAGHDAD192
2009-01-26 06:17:00
SECRET
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:  

PM REPLACES WASIT POLICE CHIEF, FUELING BROADER

Tags:  PGOV PINR IZ 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO4796
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #0192/01 0260617
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P 260617Z JAN 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1390
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 000192 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2019
TAGS: PGOV PINR IZ
SUBJECT: PM REPLACES WASIT POLICE CHIEF, FUELING BROADER
RIVALRY WITH INTERIOR MINISTRY AND ISCI

REF: A. 08 BAGHDAD 3722

B. 08 BAGHDAD 3614

C. 08 BAGHDAD 3480

D. 08 BAGHDAD 3052

Classified By: Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Ford for reason
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 000192

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2019
TAGS: PGOV PINR IZ
SUBJECT: PM REPLACES WASIT POLICE CHIEF, FUELING BROADER
RIVALRY WITH INTERIOR MINISTRY AND ISCI

REF: A. 08 BAGHDAD 3722

B. 08 BAGHDAD 3614

C. 08 BAGHDAD 3480

D. 08 BAGHDAD 3052

Classified By: Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Ford for reason 1.
4 (b).


1. (C) Summary. The Prime Minister's office replaced Wasit
Province Chief of Police MG Abed al-Haneen Faisal on
January 14 with the Da'wa-affiliated former Karbala Police
Chief, MG Ra'ad Shaker Jawdat al-Hasnawi. The move to
replace the police chief, broadly viewed as non-partisan
and effective, was made without consulting the Minister of
Interior or the provincial government. The Wasit
Provincial Council (PC) passed a motion condemning the
appointment but councilors concede that the new chief will
be seated at least provisionally. Da'wa supporters in the
province, including the Governor and the provincial SWAT
commander, backed the move. The Prime Minister's decision
reflects growing tension between the Prime Minister and the
Interior Minister, who has his own supporters in the
province. Many in Wasit are concerned that the new Police
Chief will be overly aggressive and politicized in his
approach to security. Ra'ad confirmed those suspicions by
attempting to enlist the PM's support to have additional
Iraqi Army (IA) troops sent to Kut to maintain order. The
request, opposed by the IA 8th Division, was ultimately
denied after some negotiation. Wasit is one of the real
election battleground provinces between Dawa and its opponent,
the Shia Islamist ISCI party. The appointment of Ra'ad may
incite an emotional response from Maliki's detractors
during the provincial elections and the sensitive
post-elections
negotiation period. End summary.

The Order
--------------


2. (C) To widespread surprise, on January 14 the Ministry
of Interior and the Wasit Governor Latif Turfa received an
order signed by Prime Minister Maliki, reassigning MG
Haneen and installing MG Ra'ad as Police Chief in the
province. Governor Latif, an independent but also a Maliki
supporter, did not protest the order. According to PRT
contacts on the PC, the Governor attended a dinner given in
honor of the new Chief of Police by the SWAT Commander
Major Aziz on the night of January 17. The outgoing Police
Chief MG Haneen -- who has accepted the transfer order --

also attended the dinner, along with other notables such as
Traffic Police Chief Brigadier General Sa'ah and Sheikh
Numani, another known Maliki supporter with strong ties to
the Sadr family. (Note: Pro-Maliki activities by Numani
and Aziz are detailed in ref A. End note.)

PC Response
--------------


3. (C) According to Wasit PC Chairman Mohammad Hassan
Jabbar (an independent, viewed by some as ISCI-leaning),
the council held a January 17 session in which they
unanimously passed a resolution stating that the PM's
decision was unacceptable due to its lack of consultative
involvement with the provincial government and the lack of
any reasoning given for appointing MG Ra'ad. While media
reports stated that the resolution effectively rejected the
appointment, the resolution is not binding. Hassan
Jabbar's understanding is that under the Provincial Powers
Law, the new PC will have the power to remove a Police
Chief -- much like a provincial Director General -- if they
find him ineffective and corrupt. For the time being, MG
Ra'ad will be seated since MG Haneen has stepped aside and
the current PC does not enjoy the authority to appoint or
remove the Chief of Police. The new PC may attempt to
unseat him later this year, however, if they still have
enough votes.

MG Ra'ad Calls in the Army
QMG Ra'ad Calls in the Army
--------------


4. (S) MG Ra'ad wasted no time in trying to make his
presence felt in the province. According to Iraqi Army 8th
Division Commander General Othman's version as told to
Coalition Forces in MND-C, Ra'ad contacted the Prime
Minister on January 18, claiming (against all evidence)
widespread rioting in al-Kut, and asked him to send in
troops to maintain order from the Maysan-based IA 10th
Division. The PM reportedly approved an order to move
troops from Maysan before contacting General Othman, whose
32nd Brigade was already present in Wasit. After Othman
objected to the order to move troops from Maysan into his
theatre of operations, the General, the Prime Minister's

BAGHDAD 00000192 002 OF 003


office, and MG Ra'ad discussed the situation. After two
days of negotiating, the decision was made that no
additional IA troops would be sent to Wasit Province.

View from MOI Dissenters
--------------


5. (C) The PC Chairman told the PRT he believes that the
change in Police leadership in Wasit was a surprise to the
Interior Ministry (MOI) -- a point of view that has been
reflected in Iraqi media coverage. However, a January 20
Poloff conversation in Baghdad with two MOI sources
suggested that, while the Minister may not have been
formally contacted, many in the Ministry had heard that the
move was coming. The contact apparently closer to the
situation, Majid al-Musawi (source protect),who said that
he worked in the MOI "planning and personnel" department,
suggested that Da'wa party functionaries in and around the
Ministry had been trying to find a suitable position for
Ra'ad for sometime, with Diyala, Baghdad, Wasit, and Babil
all rumored to be considered. He claimed to have heard
about the impending change several days in advance. Jalil
Khalaf al-Mozani, formerly Police Chief of Basra, who was
himself reassigned by the PM's office to a MOI desk job in
early 2008, added that MG Haneen was a friend of his and to
his knowledge had no particular quarrel with the PM.


6. (C) Other media reports suggested that Maliki moved to
replace the Police Chief because of a dispute between Da'wa
and Iraqiya members on the PC. Ministry of Interior
contacts had not heard of this, nor have PRT Wasit
contacts. Similarly, we have not seen any evidence of
rumors that Maliki replaced MG Haneen because he was
cooperating with the Interior Minister's new political
party.

Bulani-Maliki
--------------


7. (S) Interior Minister Bulani's political party may be a
factor in the change, however. Jalil, like many others,
believes the PM was motivated at least in part by an
ongoing feud with the Minister. The conflict was
exacerbated by rumors that Bulani was less than cooperative
in his efforts to investigate an alleged coup d'etat
against the Prime Minister in late December. Bulani has
been promoting his Constitution (Destoor) slate in the
provincial
elections, particularly in the South Central provinces.
Raised in Amara and with family ties in Diwaniyah and
Wasit, Bulani may have made some inroads with the
province's voters. In a November conversation with Poloff,
PC Chairman Hassan Jabbar advised that the Constitution
Party would likely gain a couple seats in Wasit's
provincial elections (ref B). Maliki has countered Bulani
by strengthening the hand of Major Aziz's SWAT forces, a
unit that last year was transferred away from Wasit's
provincial control and now reports to the Baghdad-based MOI
Emergency Response Team, which is reportedly controlled by
the PM. The PRT has detailed SWAT's role in helping set up
the PM's Support Councils in the province (ref C).

Not a Provincial Operations Center
--------------


8. (C) According to the Ministry of Interior sources, there
are no indications at this time that the replacement of the
Police Chief has led to the establishment of a Provincial
Operations Center in Wasit, in which all ISF operations
(police, army, etc.) would be consolidated under one
command, bypassing the normal MOD and MOI chains of
command. Since 2007, this arrangement has been established
with the Prime Minister's backing in six provinces,
including Karbala, where MG Ra'ad served as the first
provincial commander.

A Change is Coming
--------------
Q --------------


9. (C) PRT contacts believe the switch from MG Haneen to MG
Ra'ad may have a major impact on provincial security
practices, and probably not a positive one. MG Haneen was
first appointed as Chief of Police by the British
Governorate Coordinator for Wasit Province in early April
2004, was removed by the PC in 2005, and reinstated in

2007. He hails from a village just north of al-Kut and
comes from a leading family in the al-Amara tribe, both of
which enhance his effectiveness in working with local
communities to prevent crime and militia activity. A
former IA general, he worked closely with the CPA
government and has since maintained a close relationship
with the U.S. military and now the PRT in Wasit. He is

BAGHDAD 00000192 003 OF 003


considered non-political and not corrupt. His successor MG
Ra'ad also enjoys a reputation from his Karbala days as an
effective officer in fighting militia violence and
maintaining peace during religious holidays. But he is
also seen as a Da'wa partisan -- despite his conflict with
the Da'wa Governor in Karbala -- who is willing to use
extra-legal tactics to achieve his aims. (Ref D details the
ouster of MG Ra'ad from Karbala.)

Comment
--------------


10. (C) The Prime Minister's move to change the Chief of
Police late in the election season, coupled with his
apparent decision to give initial approval to activate ISF
to enforce it, will raise concerns among Dawa opponents
about Maliki's manner of handling percolating conflicts with
the
Interior Ministry, ISCI/Badr, and provincial governments.
From the provincial point of view, it is not surprising
that the ISCI-led governing bloc in the PC, which has a
strong chance of losing power in the upcoming elections,
comes out on the short end of a dispute with the PM, the
Governor, and the SWAT commander. It is troublesome that
Wasit has a new Chief of Police who has already taken a
confrontational tack and who has a reputation from his days
in Karbala as a rather blunt instrument of force. The
appointment of Ra'ad may incite an emotional response from
Maliki's detractors during the provincial elections and the
sensitive post-elections negotiation period. End comment.

CROCKER